Online Reporter
WHILE Zimbabwe has always opposed corruption, there was usually a lot of rhetoric in this opposition without adequate action backing the words and a tendency to assume that, despite the pressures, it would be impossible to eradicate the menace.
That changed when President Mnangagwa was sworn into office and especially as he geared up the administration for the Second Republic, creating a culture that had zero tolerance for corruption and seeking out highly effective enforcers who would hunt down the corrupt and create new systems that made corruption impossible or much harder.
Besides the theft of national and other people’s money, corruption was slowing Zimbabwe’s economic growth, with major investors totally unwilling to pay off those who promised to help them navigate the often complex rules and licensing procedures in return for a cut, or who even blatantly approached them, telling them they would not succeed unless they paid off certain people.
Several of those who entered Zimbabwe under the Second Republic with very large investments made it clear that they had backed off in the past, but that the effective measures taken by President Mnangagwa’s administration and the assurances they had been given allowed them to at least consider investing on economic grounds.
The huge changes in the way contracts were awarded and the far simpler licensing regime introduced as part of the general economic reforms also helped. When everything is out in the open, and licences are few, straightforward, and cheap, opportunities for corruption are greatly reduced.
There were always those who felt they were too powerful or important to be crossed and could act any way they wanted, using their position.
President Mnangagwa not only made it clear that it did not matter who you were – the anti-corruption enforcers would hunt you down – but he was also totally willing to get rid of those with such wrong ideas.
So the early days of the Second Republic saw some drastic changes.
The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission was reformed under very strong leadership and was not just promised full backing but given that backing so it could hunt down criminals and gather the evidence. The specialists in the police dealing with fraud found they could now act, and the prosecution services were expected to take up the baton and achieve convictions.
Most importantly, these enforcement agencies were expected to work together to identify the criminals, gather the evidence, and then go to court.
Meanwhile, the judiciary made it clear that if any judge or magistrate stepped out of line, or even gave the appearance that they were not following their own rules, then the procedures set out in the Constitution would be invoked, and the judicial officer would be fired. Co-operation was enhanced with qualified staff moving between the enforcement services.
This led to a surge in those who had been behaving badly being convicted and jailed, or at the very least, when evidence was hard to obtain, losing their posts, and that was the fate of those running units that were losing money to corruption, even if they were not involved, since they were obviously very inefficient.
The problem of evidence was also addressed through civil action. Generally, corruption is done with no witnesses and as deep undercover as possible.
But civil cases, which only require proof by probability, not proof beyond reasonable doubt, have led to the recovery of many millions and a pile of cases in progress.
The successes keep mounting. Zinara used to be a byword for corruption.
These days, it is a national agency with clean audits done on time and is regarded as an exceptionally efficient collector of the tolls and vehicle licences used to fund the Government’s major road building and rebuilding.
Administrative expenses are now a small percentage of the amounts collected, so there is enough money for roads and bridges.
The Ministry of Finance, Economic Development, and Investment Promotion got around the problem of corrupt private sector businesses overcharging the Government by insisting that every ministry assessed what had been done at what price and retained the reserve power to block a contract where it was obvious that something was amiss.
The thrust was for civil servants to take responsibility instead of passing the buck.
New technologies, as President Mnangagwa noted this week, can open new doors for corruption, but they also provide solutions when correctly used to make corruption impossible or at least a lot harder.
As was noted when Beitbridge Border Post was switched to digital systems for collecting customs duties, you cannot bribe a computer.
Zimra has come a long way to ensure that the right data is collected and that payments of all taxes are automatic, without human interference.
The thrust against corruption has not just been at the upper levels. The minor corruption, such as a police traffic officer seeking a small bribe to forget a speeding offence, has been tackled as well, with the fitting of body cameras to the equipment of traffic officers being the latest move, again using modern technologies.
As the President noted, the large gains under his leadership against all forms of corruption involve getting everyone to accept that this sort of behaviour is not just unacceptable but can quite easily lead to long jail sentences, with the courts now seeing that sentences must take into account not just the corruption but the damage done, often to the poorest people when assets are stolen.
This sort of acceptance is creating a new culture. Gone are the days when people shrugged and said, “everyone does it.” These days, the honest majority know they can avoid the traps and work in whatever job they hold, in the public sector or the private sector, to advance themselves and those who employ them.
And the dishonest minority are learning from the headlines that options are limited and they are far more likely to achieve success by being honest and applying their talents to creating productive wealth rather than figuring out schemes to steal from the rest of us.
