Opinion / Columnist
As long as ZACC isn't catching the 'big fish' then its work is useless!
18 Jul 2024 at 15:02hrs | Views
The ZACC (Zimbabwe Anti Corruption Commission) has, of late, been bragging over its supposed 'successes'.
ZACC commissioner Ndakaripa Hungwe recently told a national anti-corruption indaba in Harare: Over the years, fraud and criminal abuse of duty account for the majority of cases handled by the commission.
This painted an impression of a state institution that was loyally and diligently fulfilling its Chapter 13 constitutional mandate to 'investigate and expose cases of corruption in the public and private sectors' [section 255(1)].
However, is that what is really happening on the ground?
Let me add that section 342(2) of the Constitution gives all constitutional bodies, including ZACC, 'all powers necessary for them to fulfil their objectives and exercise their functions'.
Section 11 of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act spells out one of ZACC's functions as 'to promote the investigation of serious cases of corruption and fraud'.
This provision undoubtedly specifies that ZACC should concentrate on serious cases, not petty ones.
The Schedule to the Act gives ZACC the powers to recommend that the police arrest and detain people suspected of committing offences relating to corruption.
In addition, ZACC officers have the same power of arrest as police officers - which was given by Statutory Instrument143 of 2019, which declared them to be peace officers for the purposes of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act.
Taking all these facts into consideration, one would expect ZACC to have embarked on a massive crusade to bring those suspected of having committed 'serious cases of corruption and fraud' to book.
However, the truth on the grounds paints a totally different and quite disturbing picture.
In May this year, ZACC commissioner Gabriel Chaibva boasted that the commission had arrested 235 public officials for illegal land deals and other various offences, including criminal abuse of office and fraud.
Of the recorded cases, 36 were completed, while 'tainted assets with an estimated value of US$135 million' were also recorded.
“In year 2022, the commission received a total of 684 complaints of suspected corruption, and of these, Harare recorded 481 cases,” said Chaibva.
The question then becomes: If ZACC - which is constitutionally mandated to fight corruption in the country - is doing such a fantastic job, why is Zimbabwe still riddled and even economically crippled by this vice?
As a matter of fact, according to the Prosecutor-General Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo, Zimbabwe is losing over US$1.8 billion annually to corruption alone.
This is suspected to be a very conservative figure as the amount is thought to be over US$2 billion each and every year.
Nevertheless, no matter the accurate figure, Zimbabwe can not afford to lose so much money to self-serving individuals whose greediness has left millions of ordinary citizens in abject poverty.
Is it any wonder Zimbabwe is scored 149 out of 180 countries on the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index for 2023, thereby classified as 'highly corrupt'?
So, again, I ask, how is it that the country is still being bled such a staggering amount if ZACC was loyally and diligently fulfilling its duties?
It is clear that the arrest of the 200 plus public officials accused of corruption, of which Chaibva bragged about, was insignificant.
Just compare the US$135 million worth of assets apparently recovered by ZACC and the US$1.8 billion the country is prejudiced per annum.
This speaks volumes to the commission's supposed 'successes'!
In other words, these are just 'small fish' whose arrest - although necessary - did not help much in fighting and curbing the rot that threatens to bring down Zimbabwe.
The brutal truth is that it does not matter how many people ZACC brings to book.
As long as the 'big fish', who are the masterminds of 'serious cases of corruption', are not arrested, then the commission's work is useless.
The over US$1.8 billion Zimbabwe is losing a year is not through some guy who sells stands on land that is not his, or a traffic police officer who demands a US$5 bribe from a motorist driving without a valid vehicle license.
I need to reiterate that, indeed, all cases of corruption need to be investigated and the culprits held to account.
There should never be any cases which are regarded as 'too small'.
Nonetheless, in the same vein, there should never be any cases that are considered 'too big' - due to the position or status of the alleged perpetrators - such that they can not be investigated by ZACC.
For instance, did the commission ever investigate the most serious cases of money laundering and gold smuggling exposed through the Al Jazeera investigative documentary 'Gold Mafia'?
Of course, we all the answer to that.
It is a big fat 'NO'!
Yet, there we all saw, in full view, characters as self-styled prophet Uebert Angel and others openly confessing to their crimes, whilst at the same time, naming those in power whom they colluded with in these activities.
What about the US$100 million ZEC (Zimbabwe Electoral Commission) scam fingering Wicknell Chivayo and his partners in the procurement of election equipment and materials?
How far has ZACC gone with the investigations they promised a month or so ago?
Instead, much to the chagrin of many Zimbabweans, the commission chose to focus on the whistle-blowers Moses Mpofu and Mike Chimombe - who are now languishing in remand prison on totally separate corruption charges.
Is Chivayo a sacred cow simply because of his proximity to President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa?
In fact, can we say that is the same reason no one was ever arrested after the Gold Mafia revelations since the name of the highest office in the land was also brought up?
So, what purpose is ZACC when its only targets are the so-called 'small fish' or others who may appear 'big' - yet totally ignoring those allegedly close to the head of state?
Let me tell ZACC something.
An entire country can be brought down by the corruption of only one or two shielded individuals.
Is it too much to imagine - considering the shocking amounts linked to characters like Chivayo - that the US$1.8 billion the country is losing each year can be looted by less than five people?
In other words, no matter how many thousands of people ZACC arrests on charges of corruption - as long as those 'less than five people' are not brought to book, then nothing will change in the country.
Zimbabwe will continue losing billions of dollars every year.
On a parting note: if there is a lion wrecking death and destruction in a community, you can kill all the cats in the area, but as long as the lion is not killed, the death and destruction will continue unabated.
Food for thought.
©Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. Please feel free to WhatsApp or Call: +263715667700 | +263782283975, or email: mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com, or visit website: https://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/
ZACC commissioner Ndakaripa Hungwe recently told a national anti-corruption indaba in Harare: Over the years, fraud and criminal abuse of duty account for the majority of cases handled by the commission.
This painted an impression of a state institution that was loyally and diligently fulfilling its Chapter 13 constitutional mandate to 'investigate and expose cases of corruption in the public and private sectors' [section 255(1)].
However, is that what is really happening on the ground?
Let me add that section 342(2) of the Constitution gives all constitutional bodies, including ZACC, 'all powers necessary for them to fulfil their objectives and exercise their functions'.
Section 11 of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act spells out one of ZACC's functions as 'to promote the investigation of serious cases of corruption and fraud'.
This provision undoubtedly specifies that ZACC should concentrate on serious cases, not petty ones.
The Schedule to the Act gives ZACC the powers to recommend that the police arrest and detain people suspected of committing offences relating to corruption.
In addition, ZACC officers have the same power of arrest as police officers - which was given by Statutory Instrument143 of 2019, which declared them to be peace officers for the purposes of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act.
Taking all these facts into consideration, one would expect ZACC to have embarked on a massive crusade to bring those suspected of having committed 'serious cases of corruption and fraud' to book.
However, the truth on the grounds paints a totally different and quite disturbing picture.
In May this year, ZACC commissioner Gabriel Chaibva boasted that the commission had arrested 235 public officials for illegal land deals and other various offences, including criminal abuse of office and fraud.
Of the recorded cases, 36 were completed, while 'tainted assets with an estimated value of US$135 million' were also recorded.
“In year 2022, the commission received a total of 684 complaints of suspected corruption, and of these, Harare recorded 481 cases,” said Chaibva.
The question then becomes: If ZACC - which is constitutionally mandated to fight corruption in the country - is doing such a fantastic job, why is Zimbabwe still riddled and even economically crippled by this vice?
As a matter of fact, according to the Prosecutor-General Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo, Zimbabwe is losing over US$1.8 billion annually to corruption alone.
This is suspected to be a very conservative figure as the amount is thought to be over US$2 billion each and every year.
Nevertheless, no matter the accurate figure, Zimbabwe can not afford to lose so much money to self-serving individuals whose greediness has left millions of ordinary citizens in abject poverty.
Is it any wonder Zimbabwe is scored 149 out of 180 countries on the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index for 2023, thereby classified as 'highly corrupt'?
So, again, I ask, how is it that the country is still being bled such a staggering amount if ZACC was loyally and diligently fulfilling its duties?
It is clear that the arrest of the 200 plus public officials accused of corruption, of which Chaibva bragged about, was insignificant.
Just compare the US$135 million worth of assets apparently recovered by ZACC and the US$1.8 billion the country is prejudiced per annum.
This speaks volumes to the commission's supposed 'successes'!
In other words, these are just 'small fish' whose arrest - although necessary - did not help much in fighting and curbing the rot that threatens to bring down Zimbabwe.
The brutal truth is that it does not matter how many people ZACC brings to book.
As long as the 'big fish', who are the masterminds of 'serious cases of corruption', are not arrested, then the commission's work is useless.
The over US$1.8 billion Zimbabwe is losing a year is not through some guy who sells stands on land that is not his, or a traffic police officer who demands a US$5 bribe from a motorist driving without a valid vehicle license.
I need to reiterate that, indeed, all cases of corruption need to be investigated and the culprits held to account.
There should never be any cases which are regarded as 'too small'.
Nonetheless, in the same vein, there should never be any cases that are considered 'too big' - due to the position or status of the alleged perpetrators - such that they can not be investigated by ZACC.
For instance, did the commission ever investigate the most serious cases of money laundering and gold smuggling exposed through the Al Jazeera investigative documentary 'Gold Mafia'?
Of course, we all the answer to that.
It is a big fat 'NO'!
Yet, there we all saw, in full view, characters as self-styled prophet Uebert Angel and others openly confessing to their crimes, whilst at the same time, naming those in power whom they colluded with in these activities.
What about the US$100 million ZEC (Zimbabwe Electoral Commission) scam fingering Wicknell Chivayo and his partners in the procurement of election equipment and materials?
How far has ZACC gone with the investigations they promised a month or so ago?
Instead, much to the chagrin of many Zimbabweans, the commission chose to focus on the whistle-blowers Moses Mpofu and Mike Chimombe - who are now languishing in remand prison on totally separate corruption charges.
Is Chivayo a sacred cow simply because of his proximity to President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa?
In fact, can we say that is the same reason no one was ever arrested after the Gold Mafia revelations since the name of the highest office in the land was also brought up?
So, what purpose is ZACC when its only targets are the so-called 'small fish' or others who may appear 'big' - yet totally ignoring those allegedly close to the head of state?
Let me tell ZACC something.
An entire country can be brought down by the corruption of only one or two shielded individuals.
Is it too much to imagine - considering the shocking amounts linked to characters like Chivayo - that the US$1.8 billion the country is losing each year can be looted by less than five people?
In other words, no matter how many thousands of people ZACC arrests on charges of corruption - as long as those 'less than five people' are not brought to book, then nothing will change in the country.
Zimbabwe will continue losing billions of dollars every year.
On a parting note: if there is a lion wrecking death and destruction in a community, you can kill all the cats in the area, but as long as the lion is not killed, the death and destruction will continue unabated.
Food for thought.
©Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. Please feel free to WhatsApp or Call: +263715667700 | +263782283975, or email: mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com, or visit website: https://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/
Source - Tendai Ruben Mbofana
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