The Employers’ Confederation of Zimbabwe (Emcoz) says an attack on the country’s anti-graft body affects investors’ attitude on a destination at a time Zimbabwe has been scouting for foreign direct investment.
BY BUSINESS REPORTER
In a notice, Emcoz said employers were distraught and had asked the body to follow up on the developments with “intense interest and depending on the outcome of investigations taking place, consult on options available as the way forward”.
It said corruption was a serious cancer working against the achievement of the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation, adding that the concerns raised by Zacc were “of great concern to our membership and, by extension, to the entire investing community”.
“We are concerned that a legal institution like the [Zimbabwe] Anti-Corruption Commission is vulnerable to attack by the very institutions that are sworn to protect it. This could be interpreted locally and internationally as interference with the course of justice, which significantly affects the attitude of investors,” Emcoz said.
Employers pay 1% of their payroll monthly to fund human capital development for the economy.
The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) has been under attack from some Zanu PF members after it allegedly unearthed financial improprieties at the Zimbabwe Manpower Development Fund (Zimdef) implicating Higher and Tertiary Education minister, Jonathan Moyo and his deputy, Godfrey Gandawa.
Zacc’s attempt to arrest Moyo during last week’s Zanu PF politburo meeting was allegedly blocked by President Robert Mugabe.
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Emcoz said while Moyo had discretion on how the fund would be used, the misuse of funds “against the background of companies folding as a result of garnishees, resulting from lack of capacity to meet the regulatory requirement of paying Zimdef dues”, made for sad reading.
“Zimdef, as a public institution, must apply the funds for the purpose for which it was established and it should not be allowed to operate outside its mandate,” Emcoz said.
Zimbabwe has been battling high corruption levels that have scared away potential investors.
Despite an intense public campaign to fight corruption, the dragnet has netted small fish, with a business as usual approach for bigwigs.
