Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CIZC) is astonished by recent remarks by Home Affairs Minister, Ignatius Chombo that he was not aware of top government and parastatal bosses accused of bleeding State coffers through corrupt activities.
Last year, CIZC joined progressive Zimbabweans in challenging the government to act on the Auditor General’s findings on corruption in State institutions.
The Auditor General’s report, as has always been the case over the years, revealed a massive rot in most State institutions as a result of rampant corruption and misuse of national resources.
CIZC is shocked that at a time the nation is waiting anxiously for government to take corrective measures against corruption and the plunder of national resources, government has chosen to be ignorant and thus taking away hopes of concerned Zimbabweans.
Minister Chombo’s utterances in Parliament, which are shocking to say the least, vindicate our long held view that corruption has persisted unabated in Zimbabwe due to the lack of political will to put it to an end.
In response to the surprise remarks by Minister Chombo, CIZC would like to underscore that the Home Affairs Minister’s remarks make it crystal clear that authorities in Zimbabwe are on a looting spree that is apparently going on unabated.
For us as CIZC, it is genuine cause for alarm for a Minister whose Ministry superintends the law enforcement agents to make shocking revelations that he is not aware of the most shocking and devastating cases of corruption in the country.
The Head of State and Government, President Robert Mugabe is on record castigating corruption but in as much as we appreciate his sentiments, CIZC is disturbed by the lack of action against corrupt individuals and institutions in Zimbabwe. Instead, we continue to see some of the corrupt individuals being recycled in government as well as in State institutions.
CIZC is disturbed that in as much as concerned Zimbabweans view corruption as a cancer that should be dealt with urgently, there seems to be lack of concern from government despite the usual rhetoric of zero tolerance to corruption.
Minister Chombo’s shocking remarks should serve as a wakeup call to President Mugabe that Zimbabwe is yet to walk the talk as far as the fight against corruption is concerned.
We implore government to prove its political will to fighting corruption and work on the recommendations from the Auditor General as a matter of urgency.
Moreover, government should effectively capacitate the Zimbabwe Anti Corruption Commission (ZACC) so that it executes its mandate effectively.
CIZC reiterates its firm view that no individual is above the law hence the law should be applied without fear or favour.
It has to be noted that the scourge of corruption bedeviling Zimbabwe today sends bad signals to investors and this negatively affects the image of the country.
