Lifestyle audit plausible

An attentive examination of the existing political and economic prevailing situation in Zimbabwe seems to suggest that corruption is crippling the smooth running of the country and this has led to the suffering of many people. The sprouting of many political parties indicates that people want power and influence in order for them to accumulate the much needed scarce resources. The Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Professor Jonathan Moyo and his deputy Dr Godfrey Gandawa used their influence to distribute the scarce resources to the unintended beneficiaries.

Understanding the concept of corruption presupposes that one should have a clear dichotomy of what it entails and what constitutes it in the simplest term. There is no simple accepted definition for the term corruption because what may seem corrupt in one society may not necessarily be perceived as such in another. Professor Moyo has drawn brickbats from students unions' from the Zimbabwe Manpower Development Fund (Zimdef) for siphoning $270 000 whilst getting a pat and a hero's welcome from the people in his constituency.

The most commonly used and popular definition of corruption is seen as the use of public office for private advantage. In the ongoing investigations instituted by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) Professor Moyo used Zimdef funds to develop his constituency and party programmes in order to fortify his position. It is high time that we should raise concern about the fallout in government run institutions.

It is high time that we should urge ZACC to advise Moyo to fully cooperate with it in order to bring this matter to finality as soon as possible as many people are interpreting it in different ways. The presumption of innocence until proven guilty remains a sacrosanct principle of our law, and ZANU PF has full confidence in our judiciary to act as final arbiters in these matters. It is therefore prudent for all of us to call for all people to desist from public comments that would undermine due process and create further confusion.

Moyo sees himself as the proverbial sacred cow hence he is now spilling the beans in order to clean himself from the ongoing allegations. Yesteryear Professor Moyo was on record that people who misused public funds should be held accountable, now it is his turn he is now crying foul. It is right and proper to urge all parties, as well as external stakeholders to allow the law to take its course.

We should take heed of Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa's words that everyone, including Cabinet ministers and Vice Presidents, can be prosecuted if there are reasonable grounds to suspect the commission of the crime as they are not above the law. We should unite and fight against corruption as it is the root cause of all the problems bedeviling the country. We should also respect and give credit to ZACC as it is a State arm mandated with investigating and dealing with cases of corruption.

In an interesting development that the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) is set to embark on a life-style audit of its staffers, amid revelations that the government was losing millions of dollars through corruption. This comes as the forensic audit confirmed the existence of endemic corruption in Zimra, with the board now more resolved to eradicate it.

The Zimra board chairperson Willia Bonyongwe should be hailed for fighting against corruption within the organisation. She said corruption by the authority's workers was costing the government money and lifestyle audits would be carried out to flush out corrupt staffers. The authority embarked on extensive lifestyle audits on selected individuals in an effort to evaluate their compliance. While our economy is considered resilient it could no longer now withstand the current levels of corruption.

Some of the methods being deployed in corruption include fake documents, tempering with scanners by some security personnel in order to facilitate false declarations, and connivance between Zimra officials and touts. The Zimra board and management team should be glorified for not tolerating corruption and institutionalizing the lifestyle audit.

It would be prudent and proper to extend lifestyle audit to all government departments especially the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), Vehicle Inspection Department (VID) and other parastatals. If we eradicate corruption or try to minimize it our economy would improve thereby improving the deteriorating living conditions of the populace.

The Corruption Perceptions Index has ranked Zimbabwe number 150 out of 168 countries. Therefore this means that we should not sit on our laurels but fight hard against corruption so that the country prospers.