The little steps that Zimbabweans will have to walk

The current state of our national affairs does not need anyone from mars to alert us. We are all too aware of the poor state of our economy in which companies are closing every other week. We are all too aware of the poor state of our road and rail networks and the death trap that is the vehicles that ply them. We are also, all too well aware of the appalling state of our hospitals where it is now justifiable to say that our people are more likely to die there than get out better. And we are well too aware of the rot in our politics where our politicians with their pungent for looting and self-enrichment are in it for their own good rather than that of our perpetually impoverished people. The list goes on!

Most disturbingly, we are now all too aware of the stinking corruption that has been eating the fabric of our institutions of government and the civil service for decades now. While the ugly head of that endemic corruption has recently reared itself in the form of the current revelations of remuneration scandals that have rocked all government owned or linked enterprises, it has not come as a complete surprise in any way. It was actually a case of when rather than if this tsunami of graft that has been simmering under the veneer of punctuated patriotism would prove too much for the already burdened fault lines in same. Now humorously dubbed salary-gate this is a scandal of insurmountable proportions that could actually swallow even those who have been perpetrating the very corruption.

Corruption can be loosely defined as "moral or spiritual impurity that is manifested through some kind of gravitation away from a set of clearly defined and agreed values." In Zimbabwe it is quite difficult now to understand what our set and agreed values are, because there are a lot of voices that are speaking on our supposed behalf and there is a lot of bad that is being done in our name in some purported advancement of our lot. There is now need to revisit what our national values encompass, and who qualifies to advance and safeguard them and how best can that be done. Corruption has contaminated all our national discourse from government and politics, the national economy, judiciary, legislature and even at the household level there is now some form of corruption.

The scourge of corruption is one of the components of the legacy that Zanu-PF has bequeathed on our nation after more than thirty years of misrule. Corruption has become an integral way of doing things in the Zanu-PF mould of things and regardless of how much the powers that be may vainly claim to be averse to the problem, the truth and reality on the ground speaks a totally different story. They say the best clean-up is that which is done by those who messed up in the first place, but in our situation it has been totally inconceivable to think that anyone especially those in the top echelons of Zanu-PF would seriously fight corruption. Yet we now have an unlikely messiah in this quest in the mould of Professor Jonathan Moyo the Information minister. Prof Moyo has made it very clear since his appointment that he would like to breathe a new lease of life into governance and conduct in public office.

He embarked on a nationwide consultation exercise soon after his assumption of office and this led to some conclusions that all was not well in his ministry. Moyo's first focus was ZBC where some obscene remuneration arrangements were revealed whose stink was still rising to high heaven as I wrote. This is where it all started and that trail has led to other parts of that ministry and inevitably, other arms of the state. I am sure if we continue to track the trail it will lead us even to really high offices in the land. No wonder even the presidium was rattled and sought to scare away anyone showing avid interest in this exercise using the usual mantra of detractors and saboteurs of the state! Who ever thought that even the usually combative George Charamba would be so ashamed of his contributions to the rot that he would suggest voluntary resignation of those ministers found culpable? If only Charamba had been even half as rabid in his pathetic insinuation as he has been in all the instances he has defended his party and paymasters perhaps he could have been seen as genuine in his lamentations. Otherwise his was just a typical face saving gimmick that should be dismissed with the same contempt as the corruption itself. Hand back the money you earned as a board member Mr Charamba and that could be a little welcome gesture to start with. Or simply keep quiet and enjoy your "hard earned" dosh.

Professor Moyo is not necessarily a universally revered character in Zimbabwean circles because of some historical issues to do with his first stint in government at the same ministry. However he has not made it a secret that he is a man who has learned his lessons and would like to make amends without any further ado. Who wouldn't do so if given such a rare second bite at the cherry? I know it is very painful for many a Zimbabwean to think that the man they so despised for what he did in his first foray into government could be the very same man that they could now have to turn to in the fight against corruption. The equally painful truth however, is that given the gravity of our current state of (corruption) affairs, anyone even in those in the Zanu-PF ranks who could genuinely show some semblance of commitment towards fighting this scourge and general moral decadence that is threatening the very existence of our state institutions should be given the benefit of the doubt.

It should also be noted that Prof Moyo was (though obviously against his will) out of government during the entire GNU period and maybe his isolation helped him to see things with the same eyes as all of us, because for years we have been seeing things that no one in government has ever been seeing. We must be crazy and they must be the sane ones. Given the way things currently stand and how we would need to have to go really far in terms of addressing the rot, it would be folly therefore for anyone of us to think that we would just wake up one morning rid of the corruption. We will have to work very hard on combating the corruption and in the process there are many painful realities that we have to come to terms with first before we even think that we could eradicate the corruption from our national systems. Firstly we have to come to terms with the stark reality that the state of the corruption is now so bad that we should never underestimate its long term devastating effects and as we seek to fight it, we should take that process as seriously as just any other national fight. It is a war! Secondly we have to come to terms with another equally stark reality that just like we would in any such national war, we have to fight the corruption as Zimbabweans not segmented groups.

We should never disqualify or rule any other Zimbabwean out of involvement in the fight on the basis of their political affiliation as long as they show the requisite standard level of genuine commitment towards this national fight. We have also seen how corruption transcends well beyond political affiliation because Zanu-PF and MDC officials have all shown the same propensity to perpetuate the scourge. We should therefore never dream that other than our very own citizens who are born and bred Zimbabweans, no angels shall be sent from heaven to lead us in the war against corruption. Whether from Zanu-PF or not it doesn't matter who lights the first fire to torch corruption from all facets of our lives. As Zimbabweans we have to support and commend every small initiative that is made towards the process of fighting corruption. We have to make those little steps towards the full momentum in the fight against corruption. This is not the time for triumphal statements or pre-emptive and sceptical condemnation of those who are at least doing something. Whoever is not genuine in the fight against corruption shall fall on their own sword just like those who were not genuine in the war of liberation fell on the way side. However, there were never a shortage of replacements and that is why the liberation war was fought to the very bitter end. As the proud nation of Zimbabwe we shall fight our war against corruption just like we fought the war for our liberation. We shall liberate ourselves from corruption just like we liberated ourselves from colonialism. But just like in the war against colonialism we all have to understand that the war did not just start as an inferno of a battle that consumed all the forces of colonialism in one day. It was a series of fires that were started by individuals and small groups in outstanding acts of bravery and courage. That is how the first and second chimurengas were fought and won! We can never run before we walk.

Let us allow this fight against corruption to be started in the very same way those wars for our emancipation were started and once the huge fire starts raging it will engulf those who have transgressed against the moral fabric of our nationhood. If someone lights a fire against corruption let us simply look at how effective that fire can actually burn corruption rather than who has started it. Even if someone who has been at the forefront of perpetuating corruption suddenly and genuinely sees the light and realises the ills of their actions, let us allow that person to play whatever part they want to play in the fight against corruption. Because given the complexity of the web of the systematic corruption that we are faced with, it would be total folly for us to think that the best fighters against the same corruption would be those from outside the system. In fact we could do with some inside intelligence and that is the only way we can be able to untangle the complex web or the graft.

We may need to apply the same approach as the South Africans did when they were rooting out the scourge of politically motivated violence that almost consumed their nation. Through their truth and reconciliation process, South Africans used those who had been at the fore front of perpetuating the political violence to lead them to their accomplices who had not wanted to come clean. Also, the perpetrators led the process not just to the shallow graves of victims, but also to arms catches that had been used in the violence. Given the scale of our corruption it can never be surprising that there are catches of loot somewhere in our country in the form of supposedly legally acquired "investments". Someone has to lead us somewhere where we can retrieve and reclaim this loot.

Also, the way proceeds of natural resources such as diamonds and other precious minerals have just vanished into thin air without trace or accountability it would not be utopian at all to think that somewhere, someone has stashed their loot from the national purse. As for the shallow graves of the corruption well, we need not look any further than our collapsed infrastructure to see the devastating and lethal effects of the corruption. We need not look beyond the appalling working conditions of the ordinary workers in some of the institutions where the selfish and incompetent so called "executives" have been bleeding same by awarding themselves obscene and undeservedly hefty packages. We need not look any further than the general decadence that symbolises our health care delivery system or the pathetic remuneration of our teachers and their conditions of service.

The war against corruption is one that we cannot afford to lose. But we have to make the painful little steps first before we can see the momentum in the fight against graft.

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Silence Chihuri writes in his personal capacity. He can be contacted by email on silencechihuri@googlemail.com