Acting President Emmerson Mnangagwa has lately been complaining about the corruption scourge in the country and threatening all sorts of action against culprits. TheStandard Comment
What the VP ought to realise is that nobody in Zimbabwe takes such complaints or the threats seriously anymore. President Robert Mugabe has made countless such complaints, issued a lot of threats and even named culprits, but nothing has come out of it.
As a result, Zimbabweans have become used to these half-hearted complaints and empty threats and no longer take any of them seriously. The only action we see taken after this presidential ranting is the persecution and arrest of small-time fraudsters and petty criminals. The big chefs whose acts of corruption have decimated this country remain free and are often promoted to higher positions where they steal with even greater impunity.
What appears to be happening is that the thieving bigwigs, although known and pronounced by name by the president, cannot be touched. The reason, it would seem, is that they have beans to spill on anybody that dares ruffle them since all of the people with the power to cause their investigation, arrest or prosecution are not clean. There cannot be any other reason except that none of the people up there is squeaky clean. Their backs are all riddled with bullets of graft, dishonesty and scandal.
So, Cde Mnangagwa, it is correct that “People entrusted with positions of authority who engage in dishonest and unethical practices for personal aggrandisement do not deserve an inch of space in our society,” but then it is equally apparent that our officials do not have the courage to do anything about these thieves.
The president has publicly named corrupt individuals and the media has published, in minute detail, evidence of corruption by public officials, but not one of them has been punished. The people have therefore lost confidence in their leaders’ claims that they are not happy with corruption and no longer believe their threats to deal with it.
In apparent reference to the latest scandal, made public by the president, Mnangagwa speaks about public finances being “used to support luxurious lifestyles at the expense of the economy and the social needs of the poor”. But, while the people would appreciate this expression of disgust at this national pillage, they are equally disgusted by the reality that nothing will be done at the end of the day.
In other countries where the rule of law applies without favour — a country like our friends’ China — almost the entire current cabinet and majority public officials would have been in jail — executed even.
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But in Zimbabwe this does not happen. What happens is acknowledgement of rampant graft followed by the setting up of toothless corruption commissions and empty threats meant to pacify the public and give them false reassurance.
The VP, who is also Justice minister, went on to give a theoretical lecture on what causes corruption etcetera; as if that will stop the on-going financial haemorrhaging of state resources, or bring back the billions that have been taken by people who, instead of being in prison, are still holding high offices in government and the ruling party. Our rulers have the audacity to lecture people, whose lives they have ruined through unmitigated greed, on how to deal with corruption.
The VP said on Thursday: “The fight against corruption and its prevention requires a new paradigm, where we shift focus to building attitudes, consciousness and enlightenment of people about it and its effects on the economy and the well-being of the current and future generations.”
So, while we “build new attitudes” and teach people to appreciate why corruption is wrong, those that are stealing in broad daylight continue to do so flagrantly. And when they are so accused, they turn around and say, “but you also stole diamond money and built rural castles”!
Zimbabwe has become a hopeless case whose leadership has become like a bunch of bananas; they stick together, yellow to the core, slippery when stepped on and not one of them is straight.
It is no wonder voices are emerging, threatening future confiscation of stolen national wealth and bringing corrupt officials to justice.
