Editorial: Getting Our Priorities In Order

IT stands to reason that if we want to tackle crime and corruption effectively, then we need to have the mechanisms, people and resources in place to deal with it.

We can create as many institutions as we want to – many of which we already have – to investigate wrongdoing on various fronts, but if the Police aren’t sufficiently staffed, properly trained and effective and in turn the courts are understaffed and ill-equipped, we might as well give up the fight. The focus of a parliamentary committee on constitutional and legal affairs looking at an effective criminal justice system this week heard just how far we fall short of these goals, and highlighted many of the problems that should become priorities if we want to turn things around.We simply have to focus our energies on these because while we have other burning issues in this country, the daylight robbery of our resources cannot be allowed to continue.The problem seems to be that we are piling on the bureaucracy, and at the end of the day, we do not have the people to do the work.We appoint the generals before we’ve got any soldiers, so to speak, and by the time we see what the problem is, it is too late to turn things around and find the money for the manpower and resources that are needed to drive such institutions.The Prosecutor General and Chief of Police seemed to be both frank and honest in their testimony before the parliamentary committee, so we are not lacking when it comes to identifying the problems.Prosecutor General Martha Imalwa hit the nail on the head when she said: “Until we have an effective criminal justice system, we can forget about talking about democracy, the rule of law, investment and peace and stability.The criminal justice system is the core to all of this.”Statistics on the number of cases awaiting investigation by the Police; and the number of cases waiting to be heard by the courts, are mind-boggling.This is largely because Police and the courts are, if not understaffed, then poorly staffed, and poorly trained.And this is where our focus should be: namely, on ensuring that we have sufficient and properly equipped people to investigate and try these cases.It is against this background that we question the rush to appoint the Director and Deputy Director of the Anti-Corruption Unit, for example.Politicians seem to think that this alone will satisfy the public demand that the scourge of graft be dealt with.What it means in practical terms, right now, is that we have another two highly paid officials in jobs which they probably won’t be able to perform effectively for any number of reasons, including the fact that they don’t have a crack team of investigators to commence the battle against corruption.We have to think of urgent remedial measures to try and take up the slack and get the country up to speed on a responsive Police force and courts where the wheels of justice don’t grind so exceedingly slowly.That is not to say that despite their constraints, the Police and the courts don’t have their successes from time to time.But these remain few and far between and both institutions presently don’t satisfy public needs.We need to determine our priorities, and clearly this is one of them.Other institutions and projects that drain public funds and don’t contribute to the public good should be sacrificed to more worthwhile causes.There are several we can name and the Government knows what they are.So the real test is whether they are prepared to do what is necessary to bring all crime under control in this country by speedy investigation, apprehension of perpetrators and court cases.The focus of a parliamentary committee on constitutional and legal affairs looking at an effective criminal justice system this week heard just how far we fall short of these goals, and highlighted many of the problems that should become priorities if we want to turn things around.We simply have to focus our energies on these because while we have other burning issues in this country, the daylight robbery of our resources cannot be allowed to continue.The problem seems to be that we are piling on the bureaucracy, and at the end of the day, we do not have the people to do the work.We appoint the generals before we’ve got any soldiers, so to speak, and by the time we see what the problem is, it is too late to turn things around and find the money for the manpower and resources that are needed to drive such institutions.The Prosecutor General and Chief of Police seemed to be both frank and honest in their testimony before the parliamentary committee, so we are not lacking when it comes to identifying the problems.Prosecutor General Martha Imalwa hit the nail on the head when she said: “Until we have an effective criminal justice system, we can forget about talking about democracy, the rule of law, investment and peace and stability.The criminal justice system is the core to all of this.”Statistics on the number of cases awaiting investigation by the Police; and the number of cases waiting to be heard by the courts, are mind-boggling.This is largely because Police and the courts are, if not understaffed, then poorly staffed, and poorly trained.And this is where our focus should be: namely, on ensuring that we have sufficient and properly equipped people to investigate and try these cases.It is against this background that we question the rush to appoint the Director and Deputy Director of the Anti-Corruption Unit, for example.Politicians seem to think that this alone will satisfy the public demand that the scourge of graft be dealt with.What it means in practical terms, right now, is that we have another two highly paid officials in jobs which they probably won’t be able to perform effectively for any number of reasons, including the fact that they don’t have a crack team of investigators to commence the battle against corruption.We have to think of urgent remedial measures to try and take up the slack and get the country up to speed on a responsive Police force and courts where the wheels of justice don’t grind so exceedingly slowly.That is not to say that despite their constraints, the Police and the courts don’t have their successes from time to time.But these remain few and far between and both institutions presently don’t satisfy public needs.We need to determine our priorities, and clearly this is one of them.Other institutions and projects that drain public funds and don’t contribute to the public good should be sacrificed to more worthwhile causes.There are several we can name and the Government knows what they are.So the real test is whether they are prepared to do what is necessary to bring all crime under control in this country by speedy investigation, apprehension of perpetrators and court cases.