Zim’s corruption fight under scrutiny

THE Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) and Special Anti-Corruption Unit (SACU) in the Office of the President and Cabinet will co-exist without disrupting each other`s functions, an official has said.

Speaking to ZTN news in Harare on Thursday SACU head, Thabani Mpofu said the fight against corruption requires different stakeholders to work together.

“The situation is not unique to Zimbabwe, many countries in Africa and the world over have similar arrangements. There is no duplication, we work with all institutions that are charged with combating the crime of corruption,” Mpofu said.

“When you look at institutions like ZRP, ZACC and SACU in conjunction with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), you are looking at a team undertaking a single objective which is fighting corruption.

“We liaise very extensively with all these institutions and we have already started seeing the cooperation of the entities that fight corruption,” he added.

There has been disillusionment with the time it is taking to conclude corruption cases and SACU was set up to minimize the delays but its presence has not changed much.

In defense, Mpofu said cases should not be time bound as the justice system demands one to be thorough.

“Corruption cases are usually complex in nature and they occur over a period of time. In all the cases, the perpetrators take particular care to hide the offense and how it was committed.

“When these matters come to court, they cannot be finalized in a short period of time,” Mpofu said.

Newly sworn in ZACC Chairperson, Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo said they have over 200 pending corruption cases.