Following the promulgation of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment Number 20 in 2013 and the subsequent dissolution of the Public Protector’s Office, the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) assumed the critical responsibility of handling and investigating cases of administrative justice, which previously was the mandate of the Public Protector’s Office. This additional role to the ZHRC’s human rights promotion and protection mandate is vital for fostering effective, transparent and accountable public administration in Zimbabwe.
Recognizing the crucial role that efficient public administration plays in promoting accountable governance, the ZHRC has been actively working to enhance its administrative justice function. This is in alignment with the governance priorities outlined in Zimbabwe’s National Development Strategy 1. To this end, the ZHRC has made concerted efforts to engage with a diverse range of stakeholders to support good governance. These engagements are designed to build the foundation for buy-in and productive collaborations to address issues of maladministration.
The ZHRC’s strategy for stakeholder engagement is driven by the goal of establishing meaningful connections and fostering trust, confidence, and support for its initiatives related to administrative justice. Stakeholders provide invaluable insights that assist the ZHRC in developing effective intervention programs. This engagement process helps mitigate potential risks and conflicts, such as uncertainty, dissatisfaction, misalignment, disengagement, and resistance to change.
Since the beginning of 2023, the Raoul Wallenberg Institute (RWI) has supported the ZHRC in conducting stakeholder engagements focused on administrative justice across several provinces, including Harare, Bulawayo, Masvingo, and Mutare. These engagements targeted Government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) with the objective of raising awareness about the ZHRC’s role and mandate in addressing maladministration. Additionally, these sessions aimed to explore how MDAs could collaborate with the ZHRC to tackle issues of maladministration within the broader framework of human rights protection and promotion. A total of 322 participants from various MDAs attended these stakeholder engagements activities to date. The involvement of these stakeholders is crucial for establishing effective referral pathways and linkages between the ZHRC and the MDAs, which is essential for resolving disputes related to maladministration. Through these engagements, the overarching goal is to ensure that public institutions operate with transparency, accountability, and fairness, thereby protecting citizens from abuses of power and other practices of maladministration.
These activities have been supported financially by the European Union within the broad framework of the “Support to the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission” Action.