According to the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, Mukoko
alleges that in terms of Section 251 of the Constitution, the NPRC was supposed
to exist for only 10 years from August 22, 2013, the date it was
operationalized.
This means the NPRC ceased to exist on August 23, 2023.
However, despite this position, Finance Minister Mthuli
Ncube allocated funds to the NPRC in his 2024 annual budget.
Mukoko is represented by Noble Chinhanu of the Zimbabwe
Human Rights NGO Forum.
Chinhanu was instructed by the National Transitional
Justice Working Group (NTJWG).
The NPRC was established according to Section 251 of
Zimbabwe’s Constitution for a 10-year term beginning on August 22, 2013, with
the duty of preventing violence, anticipating conflict, and ensuring
reconciliation within communities.
It only became active on January 5, 2018, due to delays in
enacting the statute to operationalize the NPRC.
The NPRC was allocated a budget of ZWL$56 billion in the
national budget.
Mukoko stated, “There is no law that allows any public
expenditure in favor of the NPRC, and this event is contrary to Section 17 of
the Public Finance and Management Act.” She added: “I submit that it is neither
prudent nor economical for the Respondents to allow expenditure for an entity
that is not recognized by law or authorized to receive such expenditure.”
She stated that Section 308 of the Constitution provides
that “it is the duty of every person who has custody or control of public funds
to safeguard the funds and ensure that they are spent only on legally
authorized purposes and in legally authorized amounts.”
Mukoko also cited the Parliament of Zimbabwe and the
Attorney-General as respondents.
The Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs
announced that it was working on transferring the functions of the NPRC to the
Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC). CITE
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