Editorial: Toothless anti-corruption commission deep in slumber

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Zimbabwe is one of the few countries in Africa, indeed in the world, with an anti-corruption commission and a minister in charge of anti-corruption. Fantastic.
But every time a major corruption scandal breaks, the minister and his commission seem to be oblivious and unconcerned. Each new revelation is simply greeted by a deafening silence.
A case in point is the Zisco scandal, happening under their noses right now. The allegations of wholesale looting of this invaluable, and highly strategic, parastatal have been investigated by a government agency.
Names have been named. We understand the list of names of those high-ups involved is eye-popping to say the least. All the groundwork has been done. The report has been produced.
All that remains is for the minister and his commissioners to wake up and do something. Authorise the police to pick up those named and get them to a magistrate.
The minister of trade and industry, himself, has admitted the existence of the report to a parliamentary committee of inquiry. After promising to give the report to the committee, he mysteriously changed his mind. Nobody has seen the report.
There are various rumours of a leak but nothing substantive has so far come to light. We understand that Mugabe himself ordered the report to be suppressed, and furthermore that he himself is implicated.
As with so many reports before, the government shredders are no doubt working overtime. And so the corrupt ministers and politburo members, already obscenely wealthy, get away with it once again.
We sincerely hope that somebody has had the foresight to keep a copy. Given the machinations in the top echelons of Zanu (PF) as the succession struggle continues, we have no doubt that somebody must have a copy tucked away carefully somewhere.
The best thing they can do is to make this available to the people of Zimbabwe who have a right to know just who is looting their children’s future.
If anyone is brave enough to get a copy to us, we will surely publish it.
Meanwhile, the anti-corruption minister and his band of merry commissioners continue to draw their fat government salaries, and do nothing.
Roll on accountable government for Zimbabweans.


Word for Today 44
“We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed
and broken. We are perplexed, but we dont give up and quit. We are
hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we
get up again and keep going.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9 NLT)