GUARDING THE GUARDS: THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS IN ASSET RECOVERY

In Zimbabwe, civil society organizations (CSOs) have played a significant role in documenting corruption and mismanagement depriving the citizens of their basic human rights. This work can facilitate asset recovery efforts, which is a high priority for the Government. The country continues to face enormous challenges despite the political changes in recent years, and this makes the contribution of civil society all the more important. In particular, CSOs can raise public awareness, research, advocacy, case management, and monitoring of returned assets. Therefore, It should be promoted and equipped to work with government and state institutions, providing information, increasing accountability and building political will. The government and third sector may achieve significantly more when working together than either could independently. This paper seeks to provide CSOs with a platform to engage effectively and support the recovery of stolen assets within and beyond Zimbabwe’s borders. It encourages CSOs to explore opportunities to effectively engage in the asset recovery process, including in partnership with other actors. Therefore, they can work towards returning the assets to Zimbabweans in desperate need. As the first of its kind, it is not intended to be exhaustive but rather provides an introductory overview of CSOs’ engagement with asset recovery and identifies their specific strengths. In addition, it also analyses asset recovery networks, allowing them to understand who is already working to build on this knowledge for future collaborations. In terms of scope, this study analyses asset recovery in the context of corruption-related offenses, emphasizing cases involving senior public officials, and discusses experiences from Indonesia and the Philippines.