Bulawayo High Court judge said Zimbabwe is taking the fight against corruption seriously,
judging by the cases that have been recorded in the courts.
Officiating at the opening of the first term circuit of the Hwange High Court yesterday,
Justice Maxwell Takuva said failure to deal with allegations of corruption in the courts will
result in the loss of confidence in the criminal justice system.
Currently they are 147 corruption related cases pending in the courts. Of these 29 are either in
progress or finalised with 16 cases having trial dates, 21 cases have been completed while 52
trials are in progress.
“These statistics shows that Zimbabwe is taking the fight against corruption seriously. The
catch and release narrative ascribed to the courts has no legal and factual basis. Admittedly,
institutions in the criminal justice system need to ensure that cases of corruption are properly
investigated prosecuted and adjudicated upon and speedily finalized in the courts.”
Justice Banda said the constituonal obligation in the justice delivery system must ensure that
disputes brought for hearing and determination by the courts are resolved expeditiously.
“Tardiness and delays in the handling of cases are incidents that are contrary to the efficient
and effectiveness demanded of a justice delivery system.”
“The public will for example have trust in the judicial processes where the registry and
clerical staff attend to litigants with respect, where matters filed with courts are processed
with speed and requisite skill, and were the staff shun corruption. Competence is the ability to
do something well to the expected standard requisite skill and knowledge. As for judges the
standard can be traced to section 187 (b) of the Constitution which prescribes gross
incompetence as one of the three grounds for removing judges from offices.”
Justice Takuva raised concern over the slow movement and finalisation of criminal matters
especial murder cases.
“According to statistics there is an excess of 1 000 cases pending indictment to the High
Court for trial. The attendant difficulties by the accused person waiting for trial, the witness
including complainants who would want closure to cases and members of the public with
interest in the outcome of trials cannot be ignored.
“As a result it is important that all stakeholders in the criminal justice system, especially the
Judiciary, the National Prosecuting Authority, the Zimbabwe Republic Police and the Law
Society of Zimbabwe perform their respective functions efficiently so that the unacceptable
situation is eliminated.”
The current Hwange Circuit Court is expected to deal with 22 murder cases originating from
Nyamandlovu, Victoria Falls, Jambezi, Hwange, Dete, Binga, Lusulu, Nkayi, Gwelutshena,
Lupane, Jotsholo, and Insiza.
