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Tichaona Zindoga
A Chinese publication reporting on how the governing Communist Party of China has dealt with corruption, uses some potent symbolism.
On September 22 last year, Bo Xilai, former secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China and a former member of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau, was jailed for life for bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power.
According to the publication, since the party’s 18th National Congress reshuffled China’s top leadership last November, it has vowed to crack down on corruption, targeting both “tigers” and “flies” — powerful leaders and low-level corrupt officials.
This has seen nine senior officials being probed, including a former head of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC); former deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC); former vice secretary of the CPC Committee of Sichuan Province; former governors and vice governors; former head of the United Front Work Department under the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region’s CPC Committee; a former chairman of the Guangxi Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and a former vice general manager of China National Petroleum Corp.
At the local level, Lei Zhengfu, a former Chongqing official who was caught up in a sex video scandal, four Shanghai judges who were spotted with prostitutes, and “Uncle House” Cai Bin, a former Guangzhou official who misused his power to acquire a total of 22 houses, were brought to book in what Chinese experts described as “most ruthless strike on corruption in China in 30 years”.
Faced with a similar cesspool of corruption, authorities in Zimbabwe may have to Look East again on how to deal with our own tigers and flies alike.
The above expose is important in at least three ways.
First, it reveals that China does not care “whose cow gets gored”, to borrow from one columnist.
The people that got nailed are more or less Zimbabwean equivalents of what people generally call “chefs” and what the media like to call “bigwigs”.
They range from the politically influential to heads of state enterprises.
Corruption has been rife among the politically powerful of this country for a long time.
Time was brief when the country thought it would be free of corruption, especially after the so-called Willowgate scandal that shook the country as top politicians were involved in a car acquisition scam.
The backlash of the scam saw one provincial governor and five Cabinet ministers resigning and Maurice Nyagumbo, then the third highest-ranking official in Zanu-PF, committing suicide.
It is little wonder that today, as revelations of corrupt activities come thick and fast, a call has been made to have a second Sandura Commission.
This would be very interesting, if it were to come, indeed as it should.
The last decade or so is especially a fertile ground for investigation.
From the land reform programme, how many people got more than they deserved, as in multiple farms, and how useful they have been on the land?
Some “chefs” are on record as moving from one farm to the other cannibalising the farms and running them down.
What happened during that era when people were being allocated farming inputs by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe?
Who got what and how did they use the implements and did they pay back?
There are certain people that got more than their fair share of the implements and vowed never to repay.
They are powerful; they think they are untouchable.
How parastatals like the NRZ, Arda, Zupco and GMB, among many others, have fallen provides a compelling case for looking into who did and did not do what.
The culprits are known; the public dismayed, as nothing is done.
A wrong precedent has been set over the years, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
The greatest slap in the public face has been seeing the same looting guys being recycled.
As in China, do we not have people with several houses and properties that are acquired illegally via political clout?
The people, out there, talk about it.
They feel powerless in the face of these tigers of corruption and malfeasance.
Some paper has wondered whether sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by Western countries have been a bigger evil than corrupt officials.
The second important thing to note in the Chinese example is the nailing of low level officials.
This should be done in the spirit of arresting the cancer before it grows and should not be used to create an impression of fighting corruption by frying the flies while the tigers walk scot free.
No stone should be left unturned.
Corruption interfaces with morality.
The Chinese punish officials caught in sex scandals.
It happens everywhere else in the civilised world.
The same should happen in Zimbabwe where leaders should be subjected to strict moral codes.
How to tackle corruption remains the question.
Will another Sandura
Commission be relevant?
The first thing in addressing this would be to ask whatever has happened to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission.
This body has been a veritable failure, and no one will gainsay that.
Some prefer to call it a toothless dog.
The failure mainly stems from the lack of prosecutorial powers of the commission and has often decried lack of resources.
ZACC states on its website: “All cases of the Commission are prosecuted by the Attorney-General’s Office. The Commission does not have the mandate to prosecute its cases.
“It is the Office of the Attorney-General which gives guidance before the offenders are taken to court for initial remand or before the trial.
“During prosecution of serious and sensitive cases the Division maintains a watching brief.”
But ZACC will not boast of having made any significant justification to its existence, especially when expected to deliver some big fish.
The irony is that the guys at the body may be hesitant because they may not know what may befall them if they pursue certain cases and individuals.
They may want to save their bacon.
It is sad.
Any national effort to address corruption will have to be multi-pronged.
First, let this be a season when the leadership of the country shows ruthlessness in dealing with corruption.
The law and processes should be applicable, uniform and predictable.
There should not be any sacred cows in the anti-corruption blitz and cases should be finalised in the shortest possible time so that the country’s jails find occupation from the scum of this earth.
Secondly, the institutional capability and capacity should be strengthened.
Another toothless bulldog will not serve anyone while the country burns.
ZACC is mandated with conducting audits or reviews, spot checks, early consultation and advising Government, promoting good corporate governance, outreach/awareness programmes and mainstreaming of anti-corruption education.
These programmes need a well-resourced entity in human, financial and technological terms.
One of the biggest interventions will be encouraging and protecting whistle-blowers.
Transparency International puts it this way: “Witness accounts offer invaluable insights into corruption, and are powerful tools in the fight against it.
“From exposing multi-million dollar financial scams to dangerous medical practices, whistle-blowers play a crucial role in saving resources and even lives.”
It admits that in some countries, blowing the whistle can carry high personal risk — particularly when there is little legal protection against dismissal, humiliation or even physical abuse while whistle-blowing carries connotations of betrayal rather than being seen as a benefit to the public.
“Controls on information, libel and defamation laws, and inadequate investigation of whistle-blowers’ claims can all deter people from speaking out,” says TI.
It urges countries to introduce comprehensive whistle-blower legislation to protect those that speak out and ensure that their claims are properly investigated.
It says workplace reprisals should also be taken as a form of corruption.
We can call it defeating the ends of justice.
The media are likely to have a field day in the next months as people leak unsavoury details at their workplaces or whatever smacks of corruption.
Some will be motivated by good; some malice; some sour grapes yet all this will contribute to a better and cleaner society.
Online Reporter