Why the fight against corruption in Zimbabwe is matter of life and death

By Rawlings Magede

Section 254 of the Zimbabwean constitution establishes the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC). One of the key functions of this commission is to investigate and expose cases of corruption in the public and private sector. Since the adoption of the constitution in 2013, the role of this commission has come under spotlight especially when it comes to corruption cases involving ruling elites. Critics have questioned the commissions’ independence from political influence and its ability to decisively deal with corruption.

As a way of trying to restore sanity within ZACC, President Mnangagwa in December 2019, fired the entire ZACC Commissioners over allegations of corruption. However, such a move did not make ZACC stronger but further eroded public confidence in the commissions’ independence. It turned out that the newly appointed Chairperson of ZACC Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo, is wife to Foreign Affairs Minister Sibusiso Moyo,a top ally of President Mnangagwa who was instrumental in the 2017 military led coup. Critics have highlighted that she is conflicted to take up that position due to the above reasons. In the absence of strong institutions that can nip corruption in the bud, the country witnessed a surge in activists who took their frustrations of lack of action on corruption by the state to micro blogging sites such as Twitter.

On 20 July 2020, police raided and arrested an investigative journalist, Hopewell Chin’ono. Before the arrest, the journalist recorded a video where members of the security services were captured in the footage harassing the journalist and directing him to stop recording. Chin’ono must be credited for using non-violent means to mobilize citizens to register their concerns to the government.His activism on social media had a wider appeal even among diasporians who over the years had taken a back bench. His arrest though highlights the impact of his activism which has seen social media users taking government officials to task. One prominent corruption case he exposed involves Drax International and President Mnangagwa’s son, Collins. In typical money heist fashion, Drax International was awarded a dubious US60 million contract to supply equipment to spread of COVID 19.The Drax scandal also sucked then Health Minister, Obadiah Moyo who was temporarily arrested and later relieved of his duties. His other campaign dubbed #UnfollowEd saw more than 12 000 people unfollowing President Mnangagwa on twitter. From then on, Hopewell became the talk of town by ZANU PF members who described his fight against corruption as foreign sponsored. ZANU PF politburo member, Patrick Chinamasa in a televised press conference, described Chin’ono as an unscrupulous character and warned that continued systematic targeted attacks on the First family were supposed to stop. The arrest of Chin’ono does not come as a surprise as the regime is on an offensive to silence its critics and cover up on its nefarious activities especially in relation to awarding of government tenders. Despite all this public information on corruption cases, ZACC continues to sleep on duty.

Zimbabwe’s legal framework on corruption

Domestically, the country has codified and enacted a significant portion of its principal anti-corruption legislation (the Criminal Law (Codification and reform) Act and the Anti-Corruption Act. This has been followed up by the signing and ratification of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in 2004 and 2007 respectively. The UNCAC is a legally binding anti-corruption agreement applicable on a global basis. Under this key convention states committed to implement a wide and detailed range of anti-corruption measures that affect their laws, institutions and practices. These measures promote prevention, criminalization and law enforcement, international cooperation, asset recovery, technical assistance and information exchange. Notably for Zimbabwe, the full implementation of the provisions of the UNCAC is not yet complete. The Anti-corruption Act is notable as it exhibits a clear desire by Zimbabwe to fulfill the obligations placed on it by the UNCAC.It is the enforcement of this legislation that remain a challenge even today. A typical example of how government has reneged on promises to uphold and implement its obligations relates to the comprehensive bill of rights that is provided for in Chapter 4 of the constitution. The Bill of Rights sets out rights and freedoms that the people of Zimbabwe are entitled to by virtue of being human beings. These rights are constitutional rights and are therefore legally binding. Besides the provision of rights such as the right to human dignity, personal security, freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, freedom of expression, freedom to petition to petition and demonstrate, the state continues to criminalise and arrest citizens who dare exercise such rights. The latest incident being that of Chin’ono and Transparency Zimbabwe leader, Jacob Ngarivhume. At the time of writing, the two are in police custody awaiting trial. According to the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR),Chin’ono has been charged with incitement to participate in a gathering with intent to promote public violence as defined in Section 187 (1) of the Code as read with section 37 (1)(a) of the Code. Ngarivhume arrest also comes at a time when he was busy mobilizing citizens for a 31 July 2020 demonstration against corruption.

In the final analysis, the arrest of Ngarivhume and Chin’ono expose governments’ insincerity and lack of political will to decisively deal with corruption. There is consensus among the general public that corruption and not sanctions is the Achilles heel in government’s efforts to turn around the economy. Further to this, despite signing and ratification of the UNCAC in 2004 and 2007 coupled together with domestic pieces of legislation such as the Anti-Corruption Act, government has aptly demonstrated lack of political will to implement fully provisions provided in its own laws. The fight against corruption is everyone’s fight and knows no political affiliation.

Rawlings is a Communication for Development expert with vast interests in human rights, peace building and sustainable development. Rawlings writes in his personal capacity and has been a blogger since 2009 where he has written extensively on Zimbabwe’s constitution making process, politics, peace, devolution and media advocacy.