The Movement for Democratic Change led by Morgan Tsvangirai has called on the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front not to interfere with the operations of the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission if the country is to successfully uproot the cancer of corruption that is now deeply embedded within the society.
In a statement following reports of corruption by Higher Education Minister Jonathan Moyo and his deputy Godfrey Gandawa, the MDC-T said it “fervently and passionately” advocated for a policy where all corrupt persons, no matter who they are or what office they hold in the public or private sector, have to be hauled before a competent court of law whenever and wherever a prima facie case of corruption has been established against them.
“There shouldn’t be any sacred cows in matters pertaining to the investigation and prosecution of anyone who, on reasonable grounds, has been alleged to have committed any act of corruption,” the party said in what appeared to be a direct reference to sentiments by Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko who complained about the planned arrest of Moyo before a politburo meeting
The MDC-T called for the investigation of all known and reported cases of corruption including:
- the Premier Service Medical Aid Society (PSMAS) scandal,
- the various subsidiary companies of Zesa Holdings,
- the Parks & Wildlife Management Authority,
- Zimbabwe Manpower Development Fund (Zimdef),
- the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation,
- Air Zimbabwe, and
- the diamond mining sector.
“It is very saddening and indeed, depressing to note that the ZACC has not been given enough latitude and space to thoroughly investigate these reported cases of insipid and debilitating corruption,” the MDC-T said.
“Unfortunately, Zimbabwe has since gained a notorious reputation of being one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Transparency International, in its latest report on corruption in Zimbabwe, disclosed that the country is losing at least US$1 billion every year because of corruption.
“This is a very startling statistic especially considering the fact that Zimbabwe is being run on an annual budget of about US$4 billion. This, effectively, means that at least one quarter of our budget is lost through the cancer of corruption annually.”
The country’s main opposition party said that ZACC should be left to do its work because it was constitutionally mandated to do so.
“The ZACC is an independent constitutional commission that should be left to impartially and freely investigate all cases of corruption that are brought before it,” the party said.
“The operations of the ZACC will be severely compromised and weakened if powerful politicians and some other such well – placed Zimbabweans are allowed to derail and/or improperly interfere with the day to day operations of the ZACC.
“For as long as Zimbabwe is perceived as a country that tolerates and actually, encourages corruption, it will be virtually impossible for the country to attract meaningful domestic and foreign direct investment.
“This is a clarion call to the ZACC to fearlessly and impartially investigate all reported cases of corruption. Zimbabweans are very keen to know what happened to the US$15 billion worth of diamonds that President Robert Mugabe recently disclosed had been pilfered from the Chiadzwa and Marange diamond fields.
“The people would also like to know what eventually happened to the millions of dollars that were looted from PSMAS. All these reported cases of massive corruption should never, ever be allowed to die a natural death.”
