‘We will deal with bad apples’
Corruption is a cancer. It is not
only morally wrong, but also has far-reaching effects on society’s socio
economic fabric.
IT CAN stifle economic growth and even scare away prospective investors. It is, therefore, a common enemy we must all fight. Government, on its part, has set up the Anti-Corruption Commission
ough this Commission has always been in place prior to the Constitution of 2013, we are moving with urgency to operationalise it following enunciation of the 10-point Economic Growth Plan by President Mugabe.
The ACC was introduced after Government realised the importance of such a body in fighting graft and corruption in general.
The overarching thrust was ensuring transparency and business-friendly environment.
Our reasoning was that apart from the police executing their mandate, the Commission would be answerable to the Legislature.
Parliament has since forwarded names of prospective commissioners to the President following interviews conducted by its Standing Rules and Orders Committee in June 2015.
Though the final list of commission- ers is still to be announced, a secretariat has been working. The set-up is similar to that of a company where operations continue even in the absence of a board.
Creating the Anti-Corruption Commission shows the extent to which Government is committed to fighting corruption.
To further demonstrate this commitment, we have made the ACC a constitutional body with a constitutional mandate to fight corruption and all Government departments will support it.
We are serious about fighting this scourge.
The problem is people sometimes move around saying so and so are corrupt without an inch of evidence.
At times it is bar talk that is then taken seriously. We have always said, “Bring the evidence or leads.”
That’s why we have suggestion boxes and toll free telephone numbers for those who suspect corruption somewhere and want to make it known.
We will certainly act on the leads we get.
We want to ensure our citizens. are corruption-free and anyone found wanting in this area will be thrown into jail.
We do not tolerate corruption; that’s why we have the ACC and police to deal with these matters.
What we are calling for is anyone to provide information plus evidence or leads to enable us to take action. We can’t arrest people to investigate; we need to investigate first, gather our evidence and then arrest criminals.
I can assure you that we have very competent police and ACC officers.
Systems are in place to fight this scourge; what we want is our citizens to co-operate and provide information that will lead to the arrest of perpetrators.
We want to ensure Zimbabwe remains peaceful and our investors feel safe and comfortable here.
Immigration
The Immigration and Registrar-General’s departments also need to continue providing a good service to our visitors, investors and also our citizens.
We are aware that Zimbabwe is facing some challenges, but we need to ensure everyone in the country is safe.
As a ministry, we have decided to address media fortnightly.
Our key departments are the face of this country, so it is important that they are as professional as possible and we will engage stakeholders so that we keep improving.
We will meet these departments weekly to hear complaints from the public regarding alleged corruption and to continually evaluate our various services.
In my view, this will help reduce corruption.
Regarding the Immigration Department, we plan to ensure visitors know what is required of them when coming to Zimbabwe, either as tourists or investors.
One needs to know these things before he/she comes to avoid delays at ports of entry.
Policing the police
There is a lot of congestion on our roads nowadays as nearly everybody owns a car compared to 10 years ago. This has resulted in a lot of accidents. One needs to appreciate that more than half of the vehicles (on the roads) are either unregistered or unroadworthy.
In some cases, such cars are used in criminal activities, hence the need to have a lot of roadblocks to screen them.
By the way, these (roadblocks) are put in place to help guarantee the security and safety of our citizens; it is critical for our police to always be on the road.
Nearly everyday, there is a traffic accident and the majority of these accidents are caused by human error, unlicensed drivers and unroadworthy vehicles, etcetera.
When police officers are on the road, the idea is not to delay motorists, but to ensure our safety and that only roadworthy vehicles are on the road.
Complaints have been made about some of our police officers being involved in corruption at roadblocks. If a police officer is caught taking bribes, he or she will be fired from the force.
We have zero tolerance for corruption.
Last year alone, at least 300 traffic police officers were fired for taking bribes on the roads. So, in my view, that is deterrent enough.
Of course, there are bad apples and these are being dealt with.
More importantly, we need our citizens to co-operate in terms of providing information so that we deal with culprits accordingly. We have always said, “No to corruption.”
The President has said it several times and I am repeating it here: “We don’t tolerate corruption!”
We must admit that we need to computerise the traffic police management system and that process is underway and we will be able to see all the roadblocks from a central server.
We know we have rogue elements who sometimes man unsanctioned traffic checks.
The whole traffic police department will soon be computerised so that we will be able to monitor what our officers will be doing on the road.
In summary, Zimbabwe remains peaceful.
Some people might say a lot of negative things about this country, but go to the airport at weekends and you will be surprised.
During the week, many go out of the country to work, returning at weekends.
This is a result of the peace we are enjoying.
Dr Ignatius Chombo is the Minister of Home Affairs. This article was taken from his interview with our Reporter Tinashe Farawo in Harare last week.