A preliminary report by the Comptroller and Auditor-General has made a shocking revelation that a number of ministers are double-dipping from Treasury and ailing parastatals under their ministries. The report portrays an entrenched culture of greed where ministers, charged with enforcing the tenets of good corporate governance on parastatals, are the main culprits in looting the institutions. When travelling abroad, ministers’ expenses are borne by treasury, yet they also claim hefty allowances from the parastatals. That way, they enrich themselves leaving parastatals poorer. These culprits who have top-of-the-range government vehicles at their disposal, also grab cars from the ailing parastatals and use them for personal errands. The actions of these ministers show that corruption, which was associated with the previous Zanu PF administration, is pervasive in the inclusive government. When the new cabinet was sworn in after the consummation of the Global Political Agreement, Zimbabweans hoped that government officials would turn a new leaf and shun corruption and abuse of office. But it seems those expectations were misplaced as even new ministers from the MDC formations appear to have learned chicanery fast and may actually inflict more damage to parastatals than their Zanu PF counterparts. These have turned GNU into a platform for institutionalised looting with parastatals being the easy target of the greedy and corrupt officials. The findings of the Comptroller and Auditor-General are a cause for concern and must jolt both Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe into action. The two principals need to investigate, with urgency, the conduct of their ministers and where appropriate, hand their cases over to the police for prosecution. These corrupt ministers must also be named, shamed and kicked out of government. Their activities are negating efforts to turn around parastatals which have over the years been sustained by tax-payers. What Zimbabwe needs is a team of competent ministers who can lead the turnaround of parastatals that have bled the treasury for years.
