The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) has taken a lot of hit in recent weeks as people demanded that the commission do better when it comes to making sure corrupt individuals are actually convicted of their crimes. ZACC is accused of carrying out “catch and release” exercises where corrupt individuals are not convicted and prosecutors put up what many suspect are deliberately weak cases the most recent ones being those involving Drax International and Obadiah Moyo.

To date there has been no sensible high level conviction with most cases stalling or just dying. Cases against Wickenell Chivayo, Ms Mupfumira, Ignatius Chombo and former Vice President Mphoko are examples. ZACC has however sought to distance itself against all the failures by saying they don’t have powers to prosecute.

One of the key functions of the Commission is to investigate cases of corruption and other mandate offences and refer the dockets to NPA for prosecution. The Commission does not have powers to prosecute cases. We give an update of cases to be heard in court this coming week.
27/07/20 S vs Edward Raradza & 2 others – Theft : Trial commencement S vs Prisca Mupfumira – continuation of trial S vs Jonathan Tendengu & 5 others – Fraud 28/07/20 S vs Russel T. Mwenye – Criminal abuse of duty: Trial commencement
29/07/20 S vs Cephas Chiwetu – Criminal abuse of duty- Trial Commencement 30/07/20 S vs Albert Mugabe – Criminal abuse of duty: Defense case S vs Calisto Jokonya – Criminal abuse of duty: Trial commencement S vs Godfrey Mahachi : Trial commencement.
31/07/20 S vs Frank Chitukutuku – Criminal abuse of duty – Trial commencement S S vs Levi Nyagurav& 2 others – remand S vs Joshua Chifamba & 2 others – Criminal abuse of duty- Trial Comm 04/08/20 S vs Cathrine Katsande – Fraud – Judgment. Our courts are open to the public.
ZACC on Twitter

This is unlikely to assuage the public’s anger or change peoples’ perceptions. Some of these cases have been going on for years without a clear explanation on what is going on. Some people have also pointed out that cases involving activists and opposition members are zealously prosecuted with bail demands often being demanded but connected fat-cats seem to get a pass. This is despite the fact that the former cases often seem to be based on flimsy contrived evidence. An example is that of Obadiah Moyo who did not even spend a night in jail.