Opinion / Columnist
Anti-corruption blitz must be genuine and all embracing
06 Jun 2016 at 12:25hrs | Views
The MDC welcomes the recent announcement by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) to the effect that several individuals and corporations have been formally placed under investigation for corruption. We have always argued that corruption in Zimbabwe has become so deeply entrenched to the extent that it is permeating through all facets of our lives; from politics, to business, to the churches and even in the field of sport.
Corruption is a cancer that has wrecked havoc in the entire socio-economic fabric of our society. As a direct result of corruption in both the public and private sector, billions of dollars worth of taxpayers' and other public funds have been siphoned out of the country over the past 36 years.
A few months ago and in a rare public admission of the existence of high level corruption, President Robert Mugabe himself stated that no less than $15 billion worth of diamonds from the Marange and Chiadzwa diamond fields has been stolen. Unfortunately, to date, not a single individual and/or corporation or organisation has been held accountable for this staggering theft of diamonds money. Little wonder Zimbabwe is in such a financial and economic mess!
Corruption has become endemic in the Zanu PF government. Day in and day out, we read about reports of Cabinet Ministers and other top level civil servants being implicated in cases of massive corruption. The rot at the Ministry of Energy and at ZESA Holdings is a case in point. What boggles the mind is the fact that inspite of these reports of naked corruption, Energy Minister Samuel Undenge, the ZESA Holdings CEO Josh Chifamba and several other bureaucrats who have been implicated in the $400 million dollar Gwanda solar project scandal are still scot free and reporting for duty as if nothing untoward has happened. It turns out that the Zanu PF regime has never been genuinely interested in firmly identifying, clamping down and ultimately, eliminating corruption. The Zanu PF regime has become insipidly corrupt; from the highest office in the land right down to the shop floor worker. This is just how corrupt this regime has become!
Going forward, the MDC expects the ZACC to not only talk the walk but to also walk the talk. The blitz on corruption must and indeed, should be all-embracing and holistic. No corrupt politician, civil servant, businessperson and/or business entity should escape the clampdown on corruption if at all Zimbabwe is going to meaningfully exorcise the ghost of graft from within our society. In this respect, therefore, the MDC also calls upon the ZACC to immediately institute investigations into how the $15 billion dollars from the country's diamonds was stolen. All the culprits, no matter who they are, should be promptly brought to book and the stolen funds should also be repatriated to Zimbabwe. It is only when this is done that the nation will sincerely believe that the anti-corruption blitz that was announced a couple of days ago is genuine and not just another façade meant to wood wink the suffering and toiling masses of Zimbabwe.
MDC : EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL
OBERT CHAURURA GUTU
MDC NATIONAL SPOKESPERSON
Source - Obert Gutu
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