eBusiness Weekly
Taurai Mangudhla
Wednesday, November 15 2017, will go down in history as a very unique day where Zimbabwe woke up to a new dispensation. To set the tone was for a new experience in Zimbabwe’s political arena, an uncharted territory, was a live broadcast done early morning at 4 am to inform the nation of major developments.
Yes, it was not usual for the 14 million Zimbabweans to wake up to news the military had stepped in to restore order.
Baffling as it was to many, history was being made and the world witnessed it.
Still in confusion, shock and perhaps anxiety, one major take away in the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) statement, delivered by Major-General Sibusiso Moyo, was that the uniformed forces’ intervention was targeted at criminals around then president Mugabe who were committing crimes that are causing social and economic suffering in the country in order to bring them to justice.
“Firstly, we wish to assure the nation that His Excellency, The President, of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Head of State and Government and Commander in Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, Cde R. G. Mugabe and his family are safe and sound and their security is guaranteed.
We are only targeting criminals around him who are committing crimes that are causing social and economic suffering in the country in order to bring them to justice,” reads part of the ZDF speech.
The ZDF also moved to promote and guarantee the judiciary to carry out their work impartially. This is critical in any society to fight corruption by using the justice system to weed out rogue elements.
“To the judiciary, the measures underway are intended to ensure that, as an independent arm of the state, you are able to exercise your independent authority without fear of being obstructed as has been the case with this group of individuals,” the ZDF added.
The army’s message against corruption resonates well with what incoming President Emmerson Mnangagwa said on Tuesday.
“I look forward to returning home soon and to join in the struggle for the economic revival of our country, which is so endowed with Agriculture‚ Industrial and Commerce‚ and Mining Opportunities and with a rich human resource bedrock to support our endeavours.
My desire is to join all Zimbabweans in a New Era where corruption‚ incompetency‚ dereliction of duty and laziness‚ social and cultural decadency is not tolerated. In that new Zimbabwe it is important for everyone to join hands so that we rebuild this nation to its full glory‚ this is not a job for Zanu-PF alone but for all people of Zimbabwe,” he said.
Although the message came a week later, it is a welcome development in our politics.
Both the army and the President-designate deserve credit for taking a stand and making a bold move against corruption, which had become so systematic and endemic across government departments and state institutions without any action.
Graft had fast become a culture and to an extent had become a cost of doing business.
Not to negate the spirit of the ZDF and that of President-designate Mnangagwa, the country needs real commitment by way of talking and looking beyond party and factional lines.
All perpetrators of corruption who have cost this economy dearly must be brought to account and pushed out of Government and key positions in state institutions.
The law must be applied without fear or favour, just like it has always been intended to, otherwise it will bring the justice system into disrepute and achieve the opposite.
People who have been previously protected by a patronage system must face justice and pay for their crimes.
Corruption has cost us gravely, with the country performing among the worst in terms of the ease of doing business due to graft. These rankings inform investors before they commit their funds and perhaps explain the dwindling foreign direct investment figures.
In 2016, Zimbabwe was ranked 161 out of 190 countries in terms of the ease of doing business before improving to 159 in 2017. Its FDI, according to the World Investment Report slumped from $319 million in last year, down from $421 million in 2015.
A Government commissioned research recently recommended that Zimbabwe should enforce compliance with laws that drive good corporate governance practices.
The report said this should include application of deterrent sanctions on those found guilty of not complying with any of the various corporate governance requirements, which are meant to oversee, regulate and give direction for state enterprises and parastatals (SEPs) operations.
“The continued lack of effective enforcement and the total disregard of these requirements are some of the root causes of poor corporate governance practices in the SEP sector.
The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc), which should provide a through and robust mechanism for dealing with corruption in the public sector, has not yet proved effective, given the number of corruption cases where no action is taken,” the report noted.”
As reported by the Business Weekly early September, rings of corrupt businessmen and political heavyweights have been causing havoc in the Zimbabwean economy amid information Government departments have been struggling to fight these cartels.
So endemic and deep rooted is the corruption that the cartels have become powerful, in some cases to an extent even law enforcement agencies and Cabinet Ministers think twice.
The rackets cash in on the premiums charged on services and salt away billions through underhand dealings, costing the economy potential revenue and in some instances killing free competition.
A top government official close to the revenue collection system spoke to this publication in confidence about how gangs of corrupt individuals had become too powerful to fight. These work with general staff and executives at Zimra to carry out various malpractices for cash.
The cancerous graft has seen major infrastructure and investment deals failing to take off as officials delayed processes and demanded bribes before they play ball.
This stinking and nauseating behaviours must not be tolerated in a progressive society that is serious about improving the livelihoods of its citizens.
Surely, we can’t have a society in which a few individual line their pockets with a few million dollars while the nation suffers and watches helplessly as social service delivery crumbles.
