COMMISSIONS WATCH 6/2024
[20th September 2024]
National Prosecuting Authority’s Report for 2023
The 2023 annual report of the National Prosecuting Authority [NPA] was presented to Parliament in June. It has been debated in the National Assembly but is yet to be debated in the Senate. The report is available on the Veritas Website [link].
Major Points in Report
Among the matters highlighted in the report were the following:
Appointment of Prosecutor-General and Board
Hon Loyce Matanda Moyo was appointed as Prosecutor-General in October 2023 and the National Prosecuting Authority Board in late November. The appointments came after the NPA operated for a long period with neither a substantive Prosecutor-General nor a Board.
The Prosecutor-General is the head of the NPA while the Board employs prosecutors and other staff of the NPA, and oversees the overall administration of the NPA. Clearly the appointments were essential if the NPA is to carry out its functions effectively.
Staffing difficulties
Brain drain and persistent staff and skills shortages plagued the NPA. Skilled personnel continually leave in search of greener pastures. To fill 120 vacant posts the NPA managed to recruit only 94 officers, and of the 94 recruited 12 have since resigned so the staff shortages persist. There is a critical shortage of skilled prosecutors.
Office accommodation
In line with international best practice, prosecutors’ offices are being separated from court buildings. Norton and Chinhoyi prosecuting stations are now housed in separate accommodation.
New prosecuting stations
Two new magistrates courts were opened, at Epworth and Chikombedzi, and the NPA has offices there [not specified if separate or in same premises]. Twelve more courts were gazetted and the NPA is working to ensure they are staffed when they become operational.
ICT equipment
Superior Court prosecutors and their staff received information and communication technology equipment to enable them to work with the Integrated Electronic Case Management System (IECMS) which is now operative in all the superior courts.
The NPA managed to install internet service in six provinces.
Need for Midlands High Court
Midlands Province needs a High Court because of mounting cases. There are currently 400 murder dockets ready for trial. A circuit court to Gokwe would be desirable.
Sentencing guidelines
Gazetting of sentencing guidelines in August 2023 was welcome because guidelines ensure uniformity in sentences given by the courts.
Public interaction
The NPA increased its interaction with the public through social media, radio and television programmes in order to increase transparency and win back public confidence.
Important engagements and agreements
· Zimbabwe’s assumed the two-year presidency of the Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network of Southern Africa (ARINSA) to prosecute and recover stolen assets and assets from proceeds from crime
· MOU with the Basel Institute on Governance
· MOU with Transparency International Zimbabwe
· MOU with Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association.
Statistical Highlights
· 80.13% clearance rate of 1671 Appeals & Constitutional Matters
· 71.8% clearance rate of 505 murder cases received.
· 61.01% clearance rate of the 1021 Economic Crimes cases
· 90.52% clearance rate of 211 International Cooperation Unit cases
· 84.5% clearance of 190 cases in the Set-down, Statistics and Crime Intelligent Unit
· 100% completion rate of quarterly reports in all stations
· 93.65% clearance rate of 473 cases of sexual offences, gender based violence, pre-diversions, children in conflict with the law.
· US$100 million was recovered through Forfeiture Orders and Preservatory Orders
· 93.33% clearance rate of the 150 Complaints received
· 99.86% clearance of 5 731 Bail applications
· 92.15% clearance of 510 Sudden Death Dockets
· 85.32% clearance of 7011 Gender-based violence cases
· 51.88% of 16 000 drugs related cases handled
· 85.71% of 7 high profile corruption cases
Commentary
Apart from the Chairperson’s Executive Summary the report itself is largely quantitative and lacks qualitative analysis. It simply reports the numbers of cases received, cases completed and cases pending. There is no comparative analysis of statistical trends from previous reporting periods. The previous period’s cases are reported as being carried over into the reporting year but there is no further information given about their progress. The previous and present cases are combined so this does not give a sufficient picture of the progress and success or failure of the prosecution. The statistics are not sufficiently aggregated or accompanied by explanations so it is not possible to know the reasons or possible causes for the trends and variances between the statistics. The term ‘clearance rate’ is a blanket term which does not give much information about the success or failure of prosecution. Of the cases indicated as cleared there is no distinction between successfully prosecuted cases, acquittals, withdrawals, conviction, cases taken on appeal and the outcome thereof in superior courts. For instance, of 470 of the 510 Sudden Death dockets handled and 40 pending there is no differentiation between prosecutions, inquests and those the NPA decided not to prosecute. Of the 150 complaints received and cleared there is no information given about the nature of the complaints and manner of their resolutions or even where the complaints were received and time taken to resolve them.
There is no mention of how the Integrated Electronic Case Management System has been working and how it has been received by NPA staff and the public who interface with it. In fact the IECMS system has brought many challenges to the justice delivery system, to the extent that it was invalidated by the Parliamentary Legal Committee, yet the courts continue to use it regardless. The report should have mentioned the inevitable challenges wrought by the system. Instead, it simply reports that Matabeleland North, Mashonaland East, Midlands and Masvingo magistrates courts need ICT equipment in order to be IECMS compliant.
The NPA bought computers and vehicles for its staff to enhance their mobility and retain them, but the report does not say whether this did indeed retain staff – apparently it did not, to judge from the Commission’s difficulties in filling vacant posts, noted above.
Conclusion
The report portrays an Authority that is efficient and on top of its game. The statistics portray impressive clearance rates of prosecution of crimes in all the units of the Authority. The work output and high clearance rates of a combined average of 75% suggest a highly efficient and progressive NPA. The report is rich in statistical detail but seriously lacking in analysis which would have helped in suggesting measures to improve throughput. For example the report should have explained how case clearance rates could have risen despite critical staff and skills shortages.