Two deadly sins

Perspective, Stephen Mpofu
HARSH narratives against the deadly sin of political disunity and corruption must be intensified for this country to wear and be seen to wear attractive make-up in the critical eyes of those in the global village of which Zimbabweans are an integral part.

It will no doubt come as a shock to many if embassy upon embassy of official rhetoric against corruption in high places has not posted a tattered image abroad, making potential investors cringe, afraid that no handsome dividends will accrue from money sent to a nation that gobbles any succulent monetary windfalls as caterpillars do to tree leaves.

Which justifies any drastic action that the government takes to put our house in order by locking up flit-fingered state employees as well as those in quasi-state enterprises behind doors as a warning to potential corrupt workers that the law is the law and takes no sides against those who breach it.

Corrupt officials in government employment are an abomination to both the taxpayer on whose hard-earned cash they feast on with their consciences’ eyes closed, as well as to their job-provider.

Their misconduct ultimately takes a heavy toll on the social and economic standing of the country as national development suffers for lack of investment.

“Line up your pockets while the job lasts, before you are found out”, appears to be the motto driving those social misfits in their corrupt forays.

In addition to stealing cash, the corrupt leaders award themselves horrendous pay rises, holiday or travel allowances among other, unorthodox ways of enriching themselves at the employers’ expense.

Employees who witness corrupt practices by their superiors but turn a blind eye to the evil acts, either afraid of reprisals by the bosses, or intent on currying favour with them, automatically become complicity to the crime themselves.

Now something rather bizarre is taking place on the corruption front with those suspected or indicted over the illicit practices teaming up with forces known to be against the incumbent government to try to discredit guardians of the law, members of the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc).

But, of course, that gimmick only helps to confirm a guilty conscience on the part of government workers trying to break the broom – Zacc — in its justified, legal campaign to rake up the muck or maggots gnawing at the very source of their livelihoods and that of their families.

Through such devious actions those government employees automatically render themselves   opponents of the government and might easily be used as proxies of Zimbabwe’s external enemies to try to effect regime change, a project that appears to have gone haywire.

If, however, lackadaisical action against these and all other corrupt leaders becomes a norm, Zimbabwe risks becoming a no-go destination for both foreign investors and tourists — a development that this country can ill afford, given the hospitality with which Zimbabweans are generally acclaimed internationally.

In the final analysis, people should never try to hide behind their tribal affiliation to protect themselves from arrest and prosecution for corruption.

The tribe of corruption happens to be corruption itself and so tribalism becomes no shelter for those who break the law, any law for that matter.

For its part, the law must exercise its blind eye and dispense justice swiftly regardless of the tribe to which an offender belongs.

This is because justice delayed is justice denied, so goes the well-known truism.

But will special anti-corruption courts being set up by the Government root out the scourge? Only time will tell.

Then comes the other sin — political disunity caused by a plethora of opposition political parties pushing diverse interests and policies and which have seen Zimbabweans travelling as believers and non-believers on the same journey toward a common destiny.

As a result our people are mired up in political squabbles that detract them from pursuing a common developmental goal, socially and economically.

The above is a common feature in any country where political maturation keeps receding, like a mirage.

The politically uninitiated are wont to believe that a proliferation of opposition political parties indexes democracy. But that is far, far from the truth as, according to a popular saying, “too many cooks spoil the broth.”

This suggests that a multiplicity of opposition political parties, with some of them driven by dysfunctional agendas, become ingredients of a recipe for violent agitations with social and economic stagnation becoming the casualty.

In the West where the concept of democracy originated, one finds at least two dominant political parties vying for power and taking turns to govern, with a third party catalysing the political system.

In our situation, however, you find spent forces, or political geriatrics that become irrelevant in their original political organisation teaming up to form a so-called opposition party of their own and soldiering on in hopes of acceding to power some day in the future.

Ironically, foreign enemies of Zimbabwe appear to fall over one another in availing funding to such opposition entities who are likely to be unmitigated political disasters, for lack of any idea of how to govern a nation, not to mention a lack of political acumen should such people accidentally find themselves in power.

Contextually, therefore, Zimbabwe suffers today because of power politics which remains a heavy weight slowing down, even preventing our people from moving ahead in one accord as a unified developmental force and into a sustainable brave new future.

A strong case no doubt exists here for all those who call themselves political leaders to metamorphose into passionate lovers of the motherland in order to leave behind a legacy that future generations will be proud of.

Short of such a positive foundation for today’s children and tomorrow’s leaders the present crop of political leaders is likely to go down as a terrible proverb.