Prosecutor-General Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo has reaffirmed her department's dedication to upholding justice, promoting prosecutorial excellence and enhancing efficacy for fairness to always prevail.
In her inaugural address for 2025, Justice Matanda-Moyo, highlighted the necessity for swift and quality decision-making among prosecutors to uphold the law effectively.
She indicated that, through her department's Monitoring, Evaluation and Training Unit, her office received 272 complaints against prosecutors last year.
The department was established to monitor, inspect and evaluate prosecutors, identify performance gaps within prosecution and recommend trainings.
Justice Matanda-Moyo said 252 of the complaints were attended to, while 20 were pending as of December 31, 2024.
"As Public Prosecutors, we will reaffirm our commitment to upholding justice, promoting prosecutorial excellency and enhancing efficacy in our profession.
"The theme resonates well with our vision of ensuring a just, safe and peaceful society by 2030. It is our duty to uphold the law, protect the vulnerable, and ultimately ensure that justice is served," she said.
Justice Matanda-Moyo said to achieve prosecutorial excellence and efficacy, the National Prosecuting Authority must prioritise professionalism, be innovative, accountable and collaborate with other stakeholders.
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She said once the systems function, the public will have confidence.
"We all cooperate and collaborate for the achievement of the common purpose of ensuring the proper functions of an effective and efficient justice delivery system. If the system functions well, the public will have confidence in it.
"It is also important that we focus on effective case management. We must prioritise cases, manage workload effectively and ensure timely resolution of matters. Where there is fairness and justice, the public will align with and abide by court decisions," she said.
Justice Matanda-Moyo highlighted that prosecutors must exhibit highest standards of ethical behaviour, be honest and demonstrate sound judgment.
She indicated that they must also constantly train and improve skills, ensure fairness, impartiality and have respect for victims and accused rights.
"Prosecutors must be committed to public service. We are public servants and are here to serve and not to be served. It is, therefore, imperative that prosecutors must have a strong desire to serve, sometimes with little benefit to ourselves. Our satisfaction must come from realising what we have achieved in maintaining public safety and deterring future criminal behaviour.," she said.
