PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa is making the right noises when it comes to what needs to be done to take Zimbabwe out of the rut that successive Zanu PF governments have condemned the country to.
Editorial
Declaring corruption public enemy number one is an important step towards building confidence, trust and the necessary oomph that Zimbabwe requires to deal with the corruption scourge.
We, however, must hasten to say Zimbabweans are not blind to the lack of cohesion within both government and the ruling Zanu PF party.
The perennial factional fights that have dogged Zanu and its successor Zanu PF since formation over 50 years ago could scupper Mnangagwa’s seemingly noble push for a new culture of governance and public service.
Dare we say, the President needs, now more than ever, to make sure the political fights emerging within his government and party do not torpedo the national cause against corruption.
It is clear there will be forces hoping to stop Mnangagwa and those assisting him to fight graft by hook or crook.
But it is also clear that Mnangagwa may not be a saint in all this. He, like all politicians, will always be driven by survival instincts. One of his eyes is on 2023 and the consolidation of his position after scrapping through in July.
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It is also not a lie that senior Zanu PF leaders have been shielding corrupt individuals, not only in the financial services sector, but across the economy who had coalesced into a dangerous cartel, ready to pay a premium to control everyone.
Zimbabweans must watch. The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission is in a comatose state and this has vindicated Mnangagwa’s establishment of a quasi-governmental organisation to help him in his fight.
Still, this group that has found opposition within and without government could be turned into “dogs of war” against political opponents inside and outside Zanu PF.
We believe that reports of individuals being investigated for being at the centre of cartels milking our country need rational thinking. We hope this is not political grandstanding.
It is our fervent hope that no political figure will stand in the way of such investigations and now is the time for people, including those in the higher echelons of our society — Mnangagwa, his two deputies Constantino Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi, and all top party officials included — to come clean.
The net must and should be seen to be closing in on anyone involved in nefarious activities.
Nobody must be spared, but we will not support political mudslinging in the name of fighting corruption.
Time for creating strong man instead of strong institutions is now over!
