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Dr Bongani Ngwenya
READING some articles titled “Mnangagwa’s anti-graft blitz loses steam” and “Adopting Chinese currency makes sense” got me thinking deeply about the political economy of our country.
The former article goes on to suggest that the anti-corruption crusade rolled out by President Emmerson Mnangagwa when he assumed the top office is losing steam as the mighty and powerful of this country are finding ways of escaping the long arm of the law.
The article accuses the new dispensation, despite the early high profile anti-corruption hype, that characterised the early days of the new Government, having recorded no convictions so far in trials of the allegedly corrupt former Government officials.
The article alleges that most of the officials that were nabbed on corruption allegations are now out on relaxed bail conditions, with some having had their passports returned, including the permanent secretaries that were accused of graft.
The President has been left with no choice but to establish a Special Anti-Corruption prosecution unit based in his office, following the frustrations of the delays and the slow pace with which anti-corruption matters are being handled, and to placate those who accuse his administration of pursuing a vindictive blitzkrieg targeting political rivals.
Meanwhile, the chilling warnings made to individuals and companies that were accused of externalising foreign currency has not birthed fruits, more than two months after the expiry of the 19 March deadline to return the externalised funds, the article alleges.
Stephen Chan, a professor of world politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, said anti-corruption drives rarely succeed.
The argument is that China’s anti-graft drive is a success story that Zimbabwe Government could take a leaf from.
I am seeing the political will in the new leadership to tackle the graft the Chinese way.
Corruption fuels job promotions, the awarding of contracts and the transfer of public assets into private hands at fire sale prices.
Corruption in the old political economy was rooted in the blurred lines that came with a system combining the weak rule of law, considerable autonomy on the part of local officials and an economic model featuring opaque relations between the private enterprises and the large public or state-owned sector.
The latter article was about the suggestions by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to adopt the Chinese renmimbi/ yuan as a reserve currency, to help the country repay loans and grants from China in the Chinese currency.
Zimbabwe has been using the multiple currency system, which was adopted in 2009, but this has been accompanied by persistent liquidity challenges, which have had debilitating effects on efforts to steer the economy on a sustainable growth path.
Some observers say increased use of the Chinese currency can help prevent the effects of the present liquidity crunch that is negatively affecting business.
Not taking anything away from this line of thinking, the argument is that, maybe Zimbabwe could instead of adopting the Chinese currency as a reserve currency at this stage, adopts the Chinese’s zero tolerance for graft and fight to eradicate the corruption scourge that has been inherited from the old political economy, and then probably adopt the Chinese currency in future after the country has sorted the economic fundamentals that readies it for re-introduction of its own sovereign currency.
These economic fundamentals hinge on the successful fight against graft as well.
Without boring my readers with a lot of detail about the Chinese story, a brief background about corruption in China and how the leadership has judiciously fought the graft as part of its effort to reform and transform the economy will do.
Corruption in China post-1949 lies in the organisational involution of the Chinese ruling party, including the Communist Party of China’s policies, institutions, norms, and failure to adapt to a changing environment in the post-Mao era caused by the market liberalisation reforms initiated by Deng Xiaoping.
Like other socialist economies that have undertaken economic reforms, such as post-Soviet Eastern Europe and Central Asia, since the beginning of the reform-era China has experienced increasing levels of corruption.
Cadre corruption in China has been subject to significant media attention since Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping announced his anti-corruption campaign following the 18th National Congress which was held in November 2012.
Transparency International’s 2017 Corruption Perception Index ranks China on number 77 out of 180 countries. Drawing a profound lesson from the Chinese, the new Zimbabwean Government could resolutely punish corruption judiciously with zero-tolerance.
For example, Xi Xiaoming, the former SPC vice-president in China, was sentenced to life in prison for accepting bribes worth over 100 million yuan in 2017.
Graft cases involving 101 former officials at the provincial and ministerial level or above were concluded from 2013 to 2017 in China.
Supervisory commissions at the provincial, prefectural and county levels have been formed to supervise all who exercise public power.
Yang, former vice-mayor of Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, fled China in 2003 and surrendered to police in November 2016. She was sentenced to eight years in jail for embezzlement and taking bribes in October 2017.
China’s anti-corruption watchdog has revealed that more than 210 000 officials have been punished for corruption since the beginning of 2017.
Judging by the numbers alone, the campaign has achieved impressive results. Astonishingly, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has disciplined well over 1 million officials since Xi took power in 2012.
The anti-corruption campaign has snared hundreds of high-level leaders — including, most recently, former Chongqing Communist Party General Secretary and Politburo member Sun Zhengcai.
Xi’s fight against corruption has made him enormously popular among the Chinese people.
He has approached the problem of corruption much like his predecessors, though with unusual vigour, scale and persistence.
Periodically, the CCP leadership has undertaken highly visible campaigns against corruption.
During these campaigns, teams of officers from the CCP’s Discipline Inspection Commission sweep the offices of municipal or provincial Governments and party units. These efforts have succeeded in preventing corruption from overwhelming the political system and undermining the economy.
In conclusion, countries where corruption has been successfully addressed, have been characterised by the strengthened rule of law, greater judicial independence, democratic accountability, institutional transparency and greater space for media and civil society watchdogs.
Let’s sort out corruption the Chinese way first and then adopt the currency as a reserve currency later. Food for thought.
Dr Bongani Ngwenya is based at the University of KwaZulu-Natal as a post-doctoral research fellow. [email protected]
Bongani Ndlovu