A call for political will to address corruption

Political will is the key to the decisive dealing with the skin deep and cultured corruption which has spread across the public, private and civic sectors in Zimbabwe. The despondency in accountability and administration of   Public funds irritably ring the alarm bells, marking the awakening call our leaders cannot afford to ignore.

With the dawning of the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio- Economic Transformation (Zim-ASSET), which is the driving force towards an empowered society and a growing economy, the runway and take off of the economic blue print should be punctuated by the weeding out of unethical business practices, anti people ambitions and a plethora of economic liabilities.

Zimbabwe has propounded a lot of economic policies since independence with relative achievements in their credentials, but with the Zim-ASSET coming to address social and economic issues, its fate lies with ruthless eradication of corruption. As long as the steering wheel (Zim-ASSET) is plunged amid corrupt, dishonest and self centered drivers, we may as well kiss good bye any chance of ever maneuvering Zimbabwe from economic and social dungeon.

 Zimbabwe is ranked number 163 out of 176 countries hard hit by corruption on the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions index. The economic sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the west helped in the cultivation of the corruption cancer, thereby giving prominence to street corruption as the people tried to make ends meet at the peak of its wrath in the period 2008-9. However, the politicians transitively took the corruption to another level by feeding on the state. It is then of paramount importance for political incentive to be roped in.

 The political incentive is the missing link in the puzzle to deal with corruption in Zimbabwe.

 The ZANU PF government is thus charged with this mammoth responsibility, to ruthlessly deal with corrupt elements and culprits across all the economic sectors.

Both structural and non-structural corruption has been prevalent in Zimbabwe with non-structural corruption consisting of embezzlement, extortion and bribery hard hitting on the general populace as they lead their daily lives. Structural corruption which arises from the political and economic structures is equally taking a negative toll much to the detriment of the national fiscus.

 Not taking anything away from the social capitalist form of governance, I hasten to say "government of the people" as opposed to the legalist "government of the law" bears the advent of corruption as the Confucian concept of "renzhi" in China. The "Willogate scandal" depicts of a system which was ready and politically committed to deal with corruption. Back then the leaders still had self indignation "nyadzi" which is fundamentally lacking today, because the nation is under siege from selfish personalities. The water tight system back then, saw corrupt individuals administering self justice. Such is an ideal Zimbabwean system we would want to cherish again.

 Existing statutes to curb corruption, such as Prevention of Corruption Act (1983), Ombudsperson Amendment Act (1997); Anti-Corruption Commission Bill (2004); and the Bank Use Promotion and Suppression of Money Laundering Act (2004), require a political arm in effecting quick penalties and stiffening their grip.

Leniency has however, seen corruption in Zimbabwe being a "low risk and high return" brisk business. The odds for a corrupt official to end up in prison are less than three percent. The recent crackdown on Chief Executive Officers needed the political determination to set the record straight. The use of the public to blow the whistle is effective to a limited point, given that they have no power to deal with those accused of corruption. However, the people's power is manifested in the ballot box when they vote out corrupt politicians. This saw the ouster of the MDC from the political arena in Zimbabwe. This then gives the awakening call to the sitting politicians in ZANU PF.

The seriousness of a government to deal with corruption is a barometer with which it is measured as safe a destination for investor and public confidence.

 Time is however, rife for Zimbabwe to take a cue from other countries that have successfully dealt with corruption, for instance China. Zimbabwe and China share a lot in common, hence, the Look East Policy. It is time to take some of the East's success stories and forge them home such that we can have the East here at home. If we could economically confide in the East, we may as well "cut and paste" their political system for home grown purposes. The systematic anti-corruption measures, which include independent trade and the media professional associations, help limit corruption by promulgating codes of ethics and imposing quick penalties. These are very efficient if the political system allows free play for them to evolve around.

Chinese President, Xi Jinping, described corruption as a "disease that calls for powerful drugs," justifying the existence of the Chinese Communist Party's anti-corruption agency (Central Commission for Discipline Inspection).  The agency saw the arresting and punishing of about 182,000 Chinese officials in 2013. The anti corruption agency at party level (not government) investigates all the individuals in the party structures. In our case this can be made more efficient by ensuring that every influential figure is forced to declare his/her assets and be monitored afterwards.

Before corrupt individuals are dragged to the courts in China, they are first dealt with at the ruling party level, if they are members. The politburo expels such corrupt individuals, who are then left at the mercy of a punitive and deterrent judicial system.
Closer home, a neighboring African country has implemented the investigations of party officials and the economy has gained reasonably, owing to rejuvenated investor confidence following the move.

A vivid example is that of Bo Xilai who was a senior politician in China, whose political fortunes came to an abrupt end following fallout with his top lieutenant and police chief. Bo was removed as the party chief of Chongqing in March 2012 and suspended from the politburo the following month. He was later stripped of all his party positions, lost his seat at theNational People's Congress, and was eventually expelled from the party. On 22 September 2013, Bo was found guilty of corruption, stripped of all his assets, and sentenced to life imprisonment.

In China various regulations, against decadence ban the use of luxury cars, eliminate lavish gifts for government officials, and limit the scope of galas, official dinners, and special privileges that party cadres have long enjoyed. This standardized the use of and accountability of public funds. Zimbabwe is moving towards the same direction with the President now authorizing foreign trips for government officials. However, a water tight and follow up system needs to be put in place to wittingly ensure proper handling of public funds.  It is in the process of procurement and planning for the noble national incentives that corruption is heightened. Recently the State Procurement Board made headlines with tender documents worth US$100 million disappearing with no trace.

Clear cut policies and allocation of authority, among state departments will limit the duplication of duties which often result in red tape towards decision making. One often sees two or more government departments serving the same purpose, or closely related issues. This translates to a very largely unjustifiable size of parliament which successfully broadens government expenditure thereby, squeezing public funds.

In Malaysia, the Anti Corruption Agency (ACA) was replaced by the Malaysia Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) in 2009, shifting from corruption prevention campaign carried out mainly through lectures.  The advent of MACC saw the practical examining of the practices, systems and procedures of public bodies to facilitate the discovery of offences and secure the revision of such practices, systems or procedures as in the opinion of the Chief Commissioner. The commission is also charged with the advisory role to the heads of the public bodies of any changes in practices, systems or procedures compatible with the effective discharge of duties as deemed necessary to reduce likelihood of the occurrence of corruption.

With the West, it is a different story altogether given that their system is highly digitalized. The United States of America developed specialized tools to track procurement and fiscal transparency. On tax havens, the US holds a seat in the steering Committee of the Global Forum for Transparency to facilitate the exchange of information for tax purposes. This is to combat tax evasion, bribery and money laundering.

The evasion of tax has equally crippled Zimbabwe, with the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) not digitalized to comprehensively account and collect tax from hotels, lodges and a lot of registered and unregistered entrepreneurial entities dotted around the country. The leakages cost the government huge sums of money resulting in failure of self sustenance.

In china the motto, "The party catches and kills and protects its own for the common good of everyone" has gone a long way in the anti corruption crusade. The exposure of its officials to investigations, cultivate the seed of trust in its supporters.

 Zimbabwe needs to provide the missing political will link, coupled by the technology matrix to deal with corruption that has caused mayhem to our small and promising economy. It is indeed prudent to increase production by first mending leakages before increasing consumption.