By Agencies
THE Environmental Management Agency (EMA) is holding a two-day multi-stakeholder engagement on challenges in the investigation, prosecution and adjudication of environmental cases, with a particular focus on the Matabeleland region.
The workshop, being held at a Bulawayo hotel, is running under the theme “Bridging the Gap”.
In her welcome and opening remarks, EMA provincial manager for Bulawayo, Mrs Sithembisiwe Ndlovu, said while Section 73 of the Constitution of
Zimbabwe guarantees every citizen the right to a clean and healthy environment, the path from legal provision to effective enforcement remains fraught with hurdles.
She said despite the fact that Matabeleland’s unique landscapes and vital resources are the lifeblood of local communities, they continue to face constant threats from pollution, illegal resource extraction and environmental degradation.
“The Environmental Management Agency is mandated by the Environmental Management Act, Chapter 20:27. We are the stewards of these resources, but we cannot police the environment in a vacuum. We cannot do it in isolation. As an EMA employee working in this region, I see first-hand the gap between the law as written and the law as applied,” said Mrs Ndlovu.
She said the Agency often faces a bottleneck in the environmental justice chain, particularly during investigation processes, prosecution and adjudication. Mrs Ndlovu added that during investigations, EMA officers frequently struggle with the technicalities of forensic evidence collection.
“Prosecution cases sometimes stall due to the complexity of environmental regulations or the high burden of proof required. There is a pressing need for specialised judicial understanding to ensure that fines or sentences act as a real deterrent rather than a mere cost of doing business for offenders. That is why this workshop is a call to action,” she said.
Mrs Ndlovu said the theme of bridging gaps is not just a title, but a directive.
“Over the next two days, we are breaking the silence. We are examining why environmental cases take long to conclude and how information can be shared among stakeholders. We are engaging law enforcement agencies, the police and prosecutors, and we want to ensure that sentences reflect the gravity of the environmental damage caused,” she said.
The workshop ends tomorrow.
-ZimPapers
