ZACC recovered only one house since 2019, blames lack of expertise

The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC)’s Asset Recovery Unit only recovered only one house since its inception in 2019.

This was revealed by ZACC chairperson Loyce Matanda-Moyo during the official opening of the financial investigations and asset recovery facilitated by International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) in Harare.

She said 35 cases worth around US$50 million in asset recovery had been successfully submitted to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

“The Asset Recovery Unit is quite young. It was introduced in 2019. So far, 35 cases have been investigated and sent to the National Prosecuting Authority for filing with the High Court,” she said.

“We have had one forfeiture of a house in Ruwa which has now been confirmed by the Supreme Court after the person had appealed. We have a lot of cases under investigation. We really take asset recovery seriously as we believe that corruption should not be allowed to continue.”

Matanda-Moyo further blamed “limited specialised skills in law enforcement agencies, inadequate expertise” for slack asset recovery and anti-graft campaign.

“The successful fight against these crimes’ is, however, being hampered by limited specialised skills in law enforcement agencies, inadequate expertise in asset recovery, lack of adequate legislation and fragmented or basic information technology at Stane level,” she said.

“Although Zimbabwe has adopted robust legislation, policies and institutional strategies prioritising asset recovery. imperative that we continuously enhance our skills to be able to move with the evolving pace of corruption.

“I am pleased to note that the training being conducted today is an ample testimony of the operationalization of National Anti Corruption Strategy, ZACC Strategy 2021-2025, the Memorandum of Understandings and the Consultancy Agreement.

“The four institutions receiving training today NPA, FIU (Finance Intelligence Unit), ZIMRA (Zimbabwe Revenue Authority) and ZACC are all players in the asset recovery value chain and all recognised the importance of a well-coordinated asset recovery approach.”

At the end of last year, ZACC admitted that it only secured four convictions while four other cases were dismissed by the courts of law. Because ZACC has no prosecuting powers, Matanda-Moyo blamed the NPA for the slow rate of conviction. Nehanda Radio