Speaking at a recent anti-corruption conference held in
Harare, Mr Mpofu said the release of suspects on bail does not amount to “catch
and release”. This followed an attack on the investigators for alleged “catch
and release” of corruption suspects.
Judicial officers are the ones who make bail rulings and
they do so in terms of the law, said Mr Mpofu.
“Insinuating that those who catch are the ones who release
is mischievous. The phrase was coined by people who want to discredit the
President’s noble anti-graft fight.
“According to the Constitution, every person is innocent
until proven guilty. Bail is a right to all those who qualify. Blasting the
Government or investigators over release of suspects on bail is wrong and
unfair.
“We may oppose bail as the State, but the Judiciary, which
is an independent arm of the State, reviews our arguments and come up with a
decision.
“The court may agree or disagree and that is how the
criminal justice system operates,” said Mr Mpofu.
Mr Mpofu clarified SACU’s role in the fight against
corruption saying only the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) and the
police have arresting powers.
The clarification followed an attack by some people that
SACU was acting unconstitutionally. Some even contested SACU’s powers in court,
without success.
“As SACU, we are a body established by the President when
he got concerned that nothing much was being done in terms of prosecution of
corruption cases.
“The problem comes from people who don’t understand how
prosecutors operate. When we do our prosecution, we fall directly under the
Prosecutor-General, under whose authority we are prosecuting.
“We are not two teams competing with each other. The PG in
terms of the Constitution, may direct the Commissioner-General to investigate
certain cases. We are not unique in our interaction with the police. We work
under the supervision of the PG.
“There are only two entities with the powers to arrest,
that is the ZRP and the ZACC,” said Mr Mpofu. Herald
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