Is there an end in sight
It reduces efficiency and increases social inequality while capital has a strong tendency of shying away from risky markets where corruption is rampant. The increase in corruption cases in Zimbabwe has been repelling foreign direct investment which Zimbabwe so much needed to turn around its economy with allegations that government and public sector bureaucrats are demanding bribes if an investor is to gain entry into certain sectors of the country’s economy.
This has an adverse effect of increasing the cost of doing business in the country thus frustrating and turning away investors in the process. As a result of damning reports of corruption, the competitiveness of Zimbabwe in attracting foreign direct investment is seriously compromised as foreign investors make use of global corruption indexes before they decide on where to invest.
Zimbabwe has been performing obscenely on the global corruption index while ZACC has often been referred to as a toothless barking bulldog as it has always been compromised and failing to prosecute politicians as a culture of impunity became serious.
President Mnangagwa has however, pledged seriousness in dealing effectively with cases of corruption without fear or favour and without respecting political office.
“Reports and submissions before me on illicit currency dealings point to an intricate network of currency speculators mostly in high places and in places of trust. In a number of cases which have now been brought to Government’s attention, some of our guardians of the financial services sector have either not discharged their roles fully, or have not done so honestly,” said President Mnangagwa.
His committed voice is expected to add impetus in dealing a death blow to corruption and break the syndicates oiling corruption in the country. There however, seems to be a deep-seated culture of impunity that is stubbornly being perpetuated by some in high places that is hurting and thinning the moral fibre while excessively bleeding the national economy.
People are demanding a departure from the previous Government where the law was bended and applied selectively, where it became apparent that arrest and prosecution was reserved for the poor and not connected citizens while those with fat pockets could easily buy their freedom.
It was an era where law was twisted and taught to know and respect certain faces while those that were mandated to ensure the law was adhered to were compromised and even entangled directly or indirectly in the web of corruption, where the rot in the Government was now stinking high and wide and could no longer be concealed. What made it more nauseating was that those who were fingered in corruption even with glaring evidence were immune to prosecution.
It was a system that had become so rotten at the core and where the centre could no longer hold, a system that glorified corruption. Political commentator and philosophy scholar Mr Jowere Mukusha submits that corruption is both a product and cause of poor governance and weak
institutions, adding that it is one of the major costs and impediments to structural transformation in the country.
He said corruption in Zimbabwe was a phenomenon that was closely linked to poor society and argued that pressure to reduce corruption and move towards good governance was both necessary and desirable, but that those ends could not be achieved unless attention was also given to other governance capacities required for accelerating and sustaining growth.
Mr Mukusha contends that corruption cannot be addressed without considering broader governance challenges and argued that it exhibits unique characteristics in small economies.
“There is need for serious political will in the fight against corruption in the country without which all the platforms to discuss it will remain talk shows without practical results to show for them. I am however, encouraged by the stance of Zimbabwe’s President Mnangagwa who has declared its zero tolerance on corruption. It is my hope that the verve does not fizzle out and will result in sustainable economic growth.
“The need to end corruption dovetails and feed into the re-engagement and the ‘Zimbabwe is open for business’ mantra that the country has been vigorously pursuing and popularising. It should never be the President’s fight alone but should be a serious signal of the trajectory that the country is pursuing,” said Mr Mukusha.
He said the Government should never dither in its fight against corruption and the culture of impunity to corruption that contributed significantly to the buckling of the country’s economy but should walk the talk and maintain the flick of hope in the minds of many.