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OUTGOING provincial magistrate in charge of Bulawayo Mr Enias Magate has urged judicial officers to shun corruption, saying it is one of the cancerous challenges that continue to undermine development efforts.
He said integrity, transparency and the fight against corruption should be part of everyone’s culture.
Speaking during his farewell party in Bulawayo on Friday, Mr Magate commended President Mnangagwa for escalating the fight against corruption, which has seen Ministers among other bigwigs being arrested.
The Government, under the Second Republic, is clamping down on corruption in pursuit of goals to achieve Vision 2030.
Mr Magate urged all key stakeholders to complement Government efforts in eradicating all forms of vices.
“Corruption is one of cancerous challenges that continue to directly undermine efforts towards development.
“Judicial officers should shun corruption and play a leading role in uprooting all forms of corruption in our country,” he said.
Quoting famous Guatemalan feminist and human rights activist Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Mr Magate said:
“Without strong watchdog institutions, impunity becomes the very foundation upon which systems of corruption are built.
“If impunity is not demolished all efforts to bring an end to corruption are in vain.”
Menchú has dedicated her life to publicising the rights of Guatemala’s Indigenous peoples during and after the Guatemalan Civil War, and to promote Indigenous rights internationally, which earned her the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992.
Mr Magate was redeployed by the Judiciary Service Commission (JSC) to Masvingo and will be replaced by Gweru provincial magistrate, Mr Tavengwa Sangster.
Mr Magate was transferred from Masvingo in 2013 magistrate to replace the late John Masimba.
He joined the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs in 1983 as a community court presiding officer.
He worked in Masvingo, Gwanda and Beitbridge in that capacity before enrolling at the University of Zimbabwe between 1989 and 1991 where he studied a magisterial course.
Between 1992 and 1995, he worked as a junior magistrate in Bulawayo, Gutu and Nkayi, a station which he opened.
Mr Magate rose through the ranks to become provincial magistrate. In January 2001, JSC appointed Mr Magate the provincial head for Masvingo station until his transfer to Bulawayo on 15 July, 2013.
He is returning to Masvingo with effect from January 1 to head the province.
His farewell party was attended by several provincial and regional magistrates, police officers, officials from the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) and Government ofificials as well as local JSC staff members. — @mashnets
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