Opposition political parties in Zimbabwe have demanded the operationalisation of the Zimbabwe Independent Complaints Commission (ZICC) to be expedited so that the body investigates acts of misconduct by members of the security forces as the 2023 elections approach.
Last month, the government gazetted the Zimbabwe Independent Complaints Commission Act to provide the legal framework for the establishment of the commission.
However, the commission is not yet operational as it has no staff members and funding.
Speaking to The Standard on Saturday, Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere:
We are of the firm view that having an independent complaints commission will go a long way to ensure that acts of misconduct especially regarding violence, the patterns that we have seen in the past, are brought to account especially as we march towards the 2023 elections.
There is an escalation of violence, and incitement to violence and we call on law enforcement agencies to act in accordance with the constitution.
We continue to condemn the abuse of the professional security forces and law enforcement agents by ZANU PF who continue to abuse state institutions.
MDC-T spokesperson Witness Dube said the Commission must have both financial and operational independence. He said:
The security services must be made to account for their inaction or bias in dealing with violence.
Of course in the face of police inaction in this regard, the commission would be the answer.
The Commission must have both financial and operational independence. The secretariat of the commission must also be independently employed by the Commission itself and it must be funded independently of the executive.
ZAPU spokesperson Msongelwa Ndlovu said that there is no political will on the part of the government to establish the commission. Said Ndlovu:
What we see in Zimbabwe is that the chief culprit of disorderly conduct chicanery and all sorts of impudence is the government, especially the second republic.
They will not establish anything that seeks to police them, hence no urgency.
In 2016, Veritas approached the Constitutional Court seeking an order compelling government to enact a law establishing the commission.
The court granted the order in 2020, but two years later, the commission is not operational. | The Standard