Mr President

GOOD day, President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Your Excellency, methinks Prosecutor-General Justice Loyce Matanda-Moyo made the right noise for the eradication of corruption given that those who live and breathe corruption flaunt their ill-gotten wealth. Yet, the call to combat graft is now a decadent ritual.

She recently affirmed her commitment to the eradication of corruption within the National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe and the Justice system as a whole, notwithstanding that these institutions must be constitutively incorruptible.

Noble as her commitment might be, Justice Matanda-Moyo needs to be chary. She must take her courage in both hands, wary of the counsel by Voltaire, “It is dangerous to be right in matters were established men are wrong”.

Your Excellency, her recommendation for the creation of a strong anti-corruption ecosystem in Zimbabwe by bringing on board all stakeholders to be part of the fight against corruption is patriotic. Yet, methinks the resolve to eradicate graft is now a faded rallying cry.

From where I stand, the occupational hazards that Geoffrey Nyarota and Davison Maruziva encountered after they exposed the high office vehicle acquisition scandal in 1987 is an apt reminder of the danger Voltire forewarned about. They were condemned instead of commended.

Ironically, President Robert Mugabe led the onslaught against the journalists. He removed them from their editorship roles, accusing them of overzealousness in exposing the corruption. He sympathised with the dishonourable five ministers and a provincial governor who resigned following their convictions. Thereafter, calls to eradicate corruption slid into decadence.

Your Excellency, you rendered your support, as did the Jews to the crucifixion of Jesus, to the removal of the duo from their news desks. You declared, “Criticism is welcome, but, to the extent that the Press now deliberately targets government as their enemy, we then part ways”.

This historic narrative is imperative