Zim Morning Post’s Fani Mapfumo (ZMP) on Monday caught up with the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) chairperson Justice Loice Matanda Moyo (LMM) to get a glimpse into her work at the anti-corruption body.
Matanda-Moyo was appointed chairperson of Zacc in May 2019, after the disbanding of the previous commission.
Today the world commemorates the International Anti-Corruption Day.
Below is are excerpts of the interview.
FM: What are the plans in this year’s International Anti-Corruption Day Commemorations.
LMM: Today is a busy day. I have sent my commissioners all over the country as we commemorate this important day. In Harare, they are going to be in Chitungwiza, while some will be in Mutare and others in Bulawayo and Gweru.
FM: Are you satisfied with the way you and the team are fighting corruption?
LMM: So far, we have made progress in the way we are fighting corruption. I can tell you that since we got into office, we have fought corruption on three fronts.
We are currently on the most important phase, which is investigating to prosecute. Prosecutions have been going on since we took office.
To date, I can safely say we have investigated about 68 cases and files have been sent to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for actioning.
I cannot give you the full list of the prosecutions but some of the high profile cases include those involving Zesa Holdings, Zinara and NSSA top brass.
Besides investigating to prosecute, we have also been investigating to recover properties or money that was obtained through corruption and we have made a lot of strides in this direction.
Zacc has also been fighting corruption through awareness campaigns in a bid to prevent corruption.
FM: You have investigated so many cases. Why is it that we have not had any successful prosecutions so far?
LMM: Many people do not really understand our mandate. My job is to investigate cases of suspected corruption, gather facts, arrest and where necessary send deserving cases to the NPA. It would, therefore, be difficult for me to answer that part of the question.
The NPA deals with all cases, ranging from murder, theft, rape and corruption. Maybe they have a lot on their plate. But I think they have not been prioritising corruption cases, which is why I have been saying that Zacc, like any other corruption bodies in the world, should be given prosecuting powers.
In other jurisdictions anti-corruption bodies have prosecutorial powers.
Once we have those, then the public can judge us on what we have control over. For now, our hands are tied.
FM: Many people have accused you of playing politics with corruption, where you arrest to investigate and when the case is sent for prosecution, it is always the case that the State would not be ready to prosecute until the person is out again in the streets. What is your comment?
LMM: That is a wrong perception; like I said, we prepare our cases and only arrest someone when we have gathered our facts but like I said, the NPA has the mandate to prosecute and sometimes they have a lot on their plate.
For instance, with the Mupfumira (Prisca) case, we had our facts correct and on point. The business of prosecution is beyond our control.
What pains me most is that some of these people will use existing laws to delay prosecutions and mostly those that are always delaying prosecutions are the guilty ones.
If you are aware, today Mupfumira went to the courts to postpone trial, claiming she is mentally unstable to stand trial. Normally, those are some of the dirty tricks played by the rich, powerful and corrupt people.
They take advantage of the rule of law in our country. In some countries, such individuals are not granted those liberties, hence you see their prosecutions do not take long.
FM: How then can we avoid such problems?
LMM: We need the powers to prosecute.
