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We hail the various initiatives embarked on by Government to stem practices that detract from initiatives to turnaround the economy. It is evident that apart from external meddling in our domestic affairs, two of the biggest enemies to the economic turnaround efforts are the West’s illegal sanctions regime and corruption in the public and private sectors. The two vices, that are by no means mutually exclusive, have become endemic and threaten to assume pandemic proportions unless they are curbed expeditiously.
While we have no power over the West’s coercive measures meant to punish us for daring to empower the people, we certainly have the power to curb corruption that works to worsen the effects of the illegal sanctions regime.
Corruption, sadly, seems to be thriving on the back of institutional and legal discord inherent in the law and institutions set-up to counter the vice. This discord, in part, is the reason why despite numerous reports of corruption at all levels of society; arrests and convictions have been at variance with the quantity of reports.
To this end, we call on Government to work on strengthening anti-corruption laws to give bite to the anti-graft drive as Government enters the home-stretch of delivery on Zim-Asset.
While Zimbabwe has a whole commission dedicated to fighting corruption, the Achilles heel has remained the fragmented anti-corruption laws that have failed to net numerous suspects.
A development that confirms the centrality of watertight legislation — and not just institutions — to the fight against the scourge. Corruption cannot be contained in the absence of holistic legislation to convict offenders.
A look at our laws among them the Anti-Corruption Commission Act, the Repatriation of Proceeds of Crime Act, and the Serious Offences Act reveals disturbing weaknesses that call for reforms to bring congruency and bite to the anti-corruption drive.
For instance, there does not seem to be agreement on what constitutes corruption. The definition in the various Acts tends to be restrictive, omitting a number of abhorrent practices on the grounds that they fall outside the purview of what is deemed corruption.
The only corruption people seem to know is manifest bribery, failure to disclose interests, receiving extra consideration against client interests, and the principal breach of trust by an agent to a principal.
Yet there are so many practices that are bleeding our economy that qualify to be covered under the ambit of corruption, the rampant profiteering by providers of goods and services being a case in point.
Corruption by nature is clandestine, which is why whistle blowers are central to the fight. As Government works to ensure the success of Zim-Asset, there is need to ensure that corruption does not continue to derail the economic initiative.
Online Reporter