Confronting the corruption demon

10 Nov, 2019 - 00:11 0 Views
Confronting the corruption demon

The Sunday Mail

Wendy Nyakurerwa-Matinde Assistant Editor

Upon assuming office in November 2017, President Mnangagwa emphasised the need to decisively deal with corruption at both individual and institutional levels.

With his sights set towards an upper middle income economy by 2030, it was crystal clear that corruption, which had been identified as a major impediment in attracting investors and development, would stall the envisaged plans.

A few months after November 2017, President Mnangagwa said corruption was deeper than he had anticipated and rooting it out would not be easy.

In his own words the President said: “There are corrupt elements within the police force, the prosecuting authority and within the Judiciary system.”

The statement came on the back of a 2018 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) that ranks Zimbabwe 160th out of 180 countries.

Corruption is obstructing people’s access to public services and a systematic wave of the vice continues to decrease public revenue that can be channelled towards the provision of other essential services.

Nearly two years into the Second Republic; and with the anti-corruption juggernaut set in motion with Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo at the wheel, it is crucial to critique the progress made so far in the anti-graft fight as well as the outstanding work.

But a little digression first.

African story

Last year, the African Union designated 2018 as the year for winning the fight against corruption, which probably explains why the voices castigating the vice are becoming louder.

For the 22nd year in a row, Botswana was ranked the least corrupt country in Africa, although it sits at number 34 on the global rankings.

Rwanda and Namibia are the second and third least corrupt countries in Africa, but sit at 48 and 52 in the world, respectively.

Botswana’s case is particularly interesting because just like Zimbabwe, the country is endowed with diamonds and wildlife, resources that are a conduit for thriving nefarious transactions.

The Batswana fight against corruption started 25 years ago when the Corruption and Economic Crime Act (CECA) was passed into law, thereby creating the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC).

The law criminalises active and passive bribery in the public and private sector, with maximum jail terms of 10 years, hefty fines or both.

The anti-graft body took over corruption cases from the Botswana Police Service, which had no fraud squad.

Presently, the World Internal Security and Police Index ranks Botswana as having the best police force in Africa.

The DCEC was modelled around Hong Kong’s Independent Commission against Corruption and has investigative and arresting powers.

It can trace and freeze assets, confiscate travel documents, and extradite suspects.

In addition, Botswana has a whistle-blower hotline number where people can phone and report corruption.

Combating corruption has also been incorporated into the curricula of schools and colleges, while outreach activities to the wider community are in the form of campaigns, anti-corruption clubs and seminars.

Starting a business in Botswana takes a maximum 48 days and the processes are significantly cheaper and easier than in most Sub-Sahara African countries.

The smooth business start-up processes eliminates red-tape, which is identified as a breeding ground for bribes or “facilitation payments”.

Being Denmark

Africa as a whole has a long way to go in combating corruption.

According to Transparency International 2018 CPI, Denmark is the least corrupt country in the world. The European country has consistently been in the top four least corrupt nations since the publication of the first CPI report in 1995.

New Zealand, Finland, Singapore, Sweden and Switzerland are the other top corruption busters. Interestingly, the United States is ranked 22, which is a story for another day.

In Denmark, bribes paid to access Danish public benefits and services are almost non-existent.

Police services are considered to be among Denmark’s least corrupt institutions. As such, Danish police enjoy a large degree of public trust.

So how is such a feat achievable?

Denmark’s ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs work for the country’s interests and values in relation to the surrounding world.

They are in contact with numerous public and private institutions, ordinary citizens, commercial companies and other partners worldwide.

Corruption, especially fraud and money laundering, is usually inter-territorial.

The Danish government maintains a policy of zero tolerance towards corruption through an anti-corruption code of conduct which forbids conflict of interest, bribery, extortion, fraud, embezzlement, nepotism and gifts that come with the expectation for favours.

Only small gifts, as defined under a gift policy, may be accepted.

Most importantly, there is no distinction made between bribes and facilitation payments, which are usually used to veil some dubious transactions in Zimbabwe.

Denmark has also ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption, the Council of Europe’s Criminal Law Convention on Corruption and the OECD Convention on Bribery Loopholes.

For all three conventions, evaluation mechanisms are attached to constantly check progress.

Transparency is essential when fighting corruption, and information concerning the public sector must be easily accessible to the general public.

In accordance with the Danish Act on Access to Public Administration Files, Danish nationals are kept in the loop with regards to the corruption cases.

They even have an intranet page to disseminate the information while all Foreign Affairs staff undergo an e-learning course on anti-corruption.

Chinese success story

While Denmark is way ahead in tackling the corruption demon, in China a lot still needs to be done.

The Asian nation is ranked 87th by Transparency International.

Since economic reforms began in 1978, corruption in China has grown significantly.

Deeply rooted corruption in the Asian country contributes to income inequality. It also compromises the legitimacy of the ruling Communist Party.

Therefore since his ascension as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in 2012, President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign has targeted widespread graft in Chinese officialdom.

While the campaign has been largely met with scepticism, results have been trickling in nonetheless, with China’s anti-graft watchdog ensnaring “tigers” and “flies” or high-level officials and lower level civil servants in their thousands.

Last year, China overhauled its anti-graft machinery with legislative changes, thereby widening the corruption watchdog’s power to all state employees as well as legalising its detention and interrogation methods.

To date, the anti-graft campaign has become an emblematic feature of President Xi’s political brand.

Corruption in the Second Republic

It takes quite a lot to admit that Zimbabwe is indeed corrupt.

It would be naïve to try and argue that this corruption will be wiped out of the system tomorrow. The rot is much deeper than that.

It will take several years for Zimbabwe to clean up.

When Batswana started fighting corruption in 1994, Zimbabweans were unknowingly starting to dig themselves into the same hole through the Willowgate Scandal (1988) and the GMB Grain Scandal (1995), among many others. These scandals were allowed to slowly eat away the society’s fabric over the decades.

Therefore Zimbabwe did not start decaying today.

But that was then, a new dispensation is upon us.

We now have a brand new Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc).

It is also naïve, if not overtly unfair, for the new Zacc team to be expected to have worked miracles in the six months that they have been in office, more so, when they do not have any prosecuting powers.

While progress is slow, most Zimbabweans will agree that the ZRP has been reforming during the past two years.

The police force is particularly important in the fight against corruption.

Unfortunately, it is not so clean in the corruption matrix and seem to be leading the pack.

On the other hand, those expected to prosecute corruption cases are also being sucked into the vice.

Prosecutor-General Mr Kumbirai Hodzi is on record stating that a sizeable number of lawyers, judicial officers and prosecutors are under investigation for corruption.

Many people have even raised concern over the slow pace at which most high-profile corruption cases are being  handled.

While it would be more desirable to have swift convictions, there is need to bear in mind that judicial processes cannot be cut short for any reason.

Every Zimbabwean citizen, no matter how corrupt they are, has a right to access justice, a free hearing and trial. There is no short cut to a free trial.

It shouldn’t be taken as laxity, for example, when fired former Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Prisca Mupfumira or former Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation chief executive Patrick Mavura are granted bail.

According to the supreme law of the land, everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

But when certain convictions are eventually made, people prefer to forget about them.

Air Zimbabwe executive Grace Pfumbidzayi is languishing in prison after being found guilty of bleeding the national airline of millions of dollars in a fraudulent aviation insurance deal.

However, Zimbabweans are hungry for more convictions, and rightly so. They have suffered enough from the effects of siphoned public funds.

Last year, anti-corruption courts were set up by the Judicial Service Commission in an effort to expeditiously and efficiently deal with graft cases.

However, these courts are yet to make an impact as the magistrates’ courts continue to be clogged with corruption cases.

We are confident that empowering Zacc with prosecutorial powers can be the panacea to Zimbabwe’s anti-corruption  fight.

 

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