Zim laws to fight wildlife crimes hailed
THERE has been a great improvement in the handling of wildlife crimes in Zimbabwe’s courts following an accelerated mentorship for prosecutors and magistrates, a wildlife rights advocate has said.
In an interview on the sidelines of the Manicaland edition of the Zimbabwe Rapid Reference Guide training on wildlife crime on Thursday, Speak Out For Animals founder and executive director, Advocate Ever Chinoda, applauded the country’s laws to conserve and protect wildlife, the laws he and others wanted to see applied.
“There has been a great improvement when it comes to wildlife crimes and how they are being handled in courts of law,” said Advocate Chinoda. “We have seen a change in attitude as well as the time taken to see completion of cases relating to wildlife in our courts.
“We do have good laws that protect animals, especially the ones that deal with protected animals; any offence involving protected animals attracts the mandatory nineyear jail term with no option of community service and no option for a fine.
“That has helped see a decline in such offences. Where we still have a problem or where we hope we will improve on is when we look at sentences that are given to cases involving problem or dangerous animals.”
Advocate Chinoda said the absence of wildlife law taught as a formal subject in law schools had seen prosecutors and magistrates going to prosecute and adjudicate on wildlife-related cases without prior theory on the value of animals and the sentences that should be preferred for perpetrators of such crimes.
“Wildlife crimes happen everywhere, within the region in Southern Africa and beyond,” she said. “Our animals do not have borders. They travel from Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and other countries. This is why these offences are prevalent everywhere and anywhere.
“This is against the background that we do not have wildlife laws being taught as a formal subject in law school. Here in Zimbabwe, trainings of this nature have been going on just like in Namibia, Botswana and Zambia to protect wildlife through the legal system.”
The Mutare training session, which ends today, is the last of a series of similar training sessions that have been held around the country.
During yesterday’s session, legal practitioners in Mutare were given the requisite background knowledge on the value of wildlife to enable them to prosecute and adjudicate fairly when handling wildlife crimes.