Self inflicted wounds: Financial crime and judicial system in a semi-authoritarian Zimbabwe

Abstract

There is a wealth of literature that describes and theorizes about the practices of economic and financial crime in the Global North and South, but little research has been done to explore the perspectives of other stakeholders on the growing trend of these crimes and the efficacy of the judicial system in semi-autocratic Zimbabwe. There is a paucity of research on the perspectives of opposition politicians, civic society, human rights lawyers, and journalists on the state of Zimbabwe’s judicial system in dealing with the incidences of financial crimes in a post-coup era, despite the large body of literature on the destructive effects of such crimes on the economy and economic development in Zimbabwe. This study fills this lacuna by examining whether the current judicial system could genuinely deter serious financial crimes or rather encourage their occurrence. This paper focused on analyzing and evaluating the status quo of the judicial system with respect to the existence of financial crimes in Zimbabwe. The article is based on in-depth qualitative interviews with key statekeholders. The findings indicate that the judicial system is captured and biased, as evidenced by the low percentage of convicted individuals with a high profile or elite individuals. The article argues that demilitarization and depoliticization of the judiciary system can be steps towards ‘fencing off’ state intrusion and removing financial crime in Zimbabwe. The results of the data analysis inspired the development of an all-inclusive judiciary structure meant to improve the fairness of the current criminal justice system.