Forensic Pathology Crisis Hits Zimbabwe’s Justice System

Zimbabwe faces a forensic pathology crisis with only one qualified specialist, forcing reliance on Cuban recruits and causing major delays in post-mortems, murder investigations, and prosecutions (image source)

Zimbabwe’s criminal-justice system is under strain after Health Minister Douglas Mombeshora told Parliament that the country now has only one qualified forensic pathologist—a shortage blamed on brain drain and low specialist uptake that has forced the government to recruit experts from Cuba to plug an urgent gap. Mombeshora said the shortage is causing nationwide delays in medico-legal post-mortems, forcing bodies to be transported to Harare or Bulawayo for examination and slowing murder investigations and prosecutions because of limited specialist capacity and poorly equipped mortuaries.

Answering a question from CCC MP Lynett Karenyi, Mombeshora said Zimbabwe had previously trained more forensic pathologists but lost many through emigration, and that local interest in the specialty remains weak. He confirmed that three Cuban forensic pathologists began work on 1 October to ease pressure. The ministry also acknowledged that district mortuaries lack essential equipment, creating bottlenecks that concentrate all forensic work in central hospitals.

Legal practitioners and police investigators say the shortage undermines timely criminal inquiries and weakens the integrity of evidence in homicide cases, as delayed post-mortems compromise prosecutions and prolong pretrial detentions. Forensic pathology requires structured postgraduate training, dedicated facilities and continuous professional development—areas where Zimbabwe’s health system faces chronic deficits due to underfunding and workforce attrition.

Mombeshora outlined plans by the Health Service Commission to offer incentives, improved salaries and rural allowances to retain health workers, predicting more local trainees within four years if training capacity expands. However, lawyers and human-rights monitors argue the timeline is inadequate, calling for immediate temporary deputisation, mobile forensic teams and urgent procurement of autopsy equipment for provincial hospitals.

Countries with functional forensic networks maintain regional centres, rotational specialist visits and digital reporting systems to prevent centralisation. Zimbabwe’s reliance on a single specialist mirrors earlier medical crises in other fields where limited expertise and equipment shortages forced long transfers and delayed outcomes. Key questions remain unanswered: which hospitals will receive the Cuban pathologists, what procurement plan will upgrade mortuary equipment, and what measurable targets will the ministry publish to track reduced post-mortem delays?