Ray Goba's dismissal shows 'No Tolerance' is not just a slogan

This cannot have been an easy decision.  Prosecutor General Advocate Ray Goba has not been in the job long. He was well respected by his peers and the President alike.  But friendship and history are not enough in the new dispensation.  The rule of law is now the bottom line.
 
Goba was suspended this morning pending an investigation into his fitness to continue holding office.
 
As ED has been saying now since he came into office:  There is no more Mr. Nice Guy.  No tolerance for corruption must be a way of life, not a mere slogan.  Rumours have been circulating for a while that the president was becoming frustrated with the lack of movement from the Prosecutor General's office.  ED is no fool.  He has been around the block.  He knows when there is funny business, and while his amnesty brought in an incredible 850 million US dollars of stolen moneys, he has wanted to catch some big fish.  Yet there was foot dragging, too much of it.  And it is time for a change.
 
This is a feeling shared by all of us. We know that corruption is a plague attacking the country far and wide.  We want big heads to roll.  
 
On the other hand, there is no doubting that ED's rhetoric and actions have changed an entire outlook of a corruption weary nation.  The no nonsense, zero tolerance attitude has trickled down.  I am no longer asked for bribes at the borders.  I am no longer having to tip my local officials.  And perhaps most obvious in all of our lives, the police are doing their jobs properly! We all remember how intolerable it had become before the new dispensation came to power.  Under Mugabe, we could not drive 5 minutes without paying an insufferable "fine" for a fictitious transgression.
 
But this has changed.  Leadership is about setting an example and instilling a spirit of respect for the rule of law amongst the people.  This has never been our strong point here in Zimbabwe.  When a leader like Mugabe had such disrespect and disdain for the courts, for the law, and for anyone who disagreed with him, why should the average Zimbabwean pay any attention to the norms and laws of a modern democracy?
 
Under the new Zimbabwe things are without a doubt different.  Very different. We are free to speak and debate; to disagree and criticize.  We can use social media to condemn the president (directly on his social media channels!).  I sent him a WhatsApp message and even got a response thanking me for my comments!  Today, we have a new reality whereby the rule of law is the rule of law.
 
Ministers now know that they must be transparent.  Election officials know they are being watched.  MPs understand that they cannot bend the rules to suit their financial needs/wants.  Policemen and women have internalised that in ED's world, you don't dictate your own bonuses.  And externalizers and looters, corrupt businessmen and foreign crooks, are on the run.  They know that the crocodile is behind them ready to snap.
 
So, when Goba broke the rules, it was time to say goodbye.  Because nobody in the new dispensation is above the law.  Now ED can move forward with his anti-corruptioncampaign.
 
He may have told the BBC that he was "as soft as wool".  But us Zimbabweans know better.  If you are involved in graft, beware of the smile of the crocodile.  In this new era, 'no tolerance' is not just a slogan.
 
Mike, Harare