Faith Moyo | Despite our president’s rather scary nickname of ‘the crocodile’, his warm smile can make him both appealing and approachable. However recently, he has clearly begun to feel the frustration many Zimbabweans are feeling with the state of corruption in the country.
His recent Facebook post about the ‘corruption amnesty’ showed both elements of humble optimism, but also included a stern admonishment: Don’t mess with ED.
“Make no mistake”, he told his followers, “those who fail to own up, your time is nearly up.” The new president, clearly without that warm smile on his face went on to note, “You will feel the full force of the law.”
250 Million USD is no small amount. But of course there is much more out there! Yet, no matter what you think about our new president, I can’t help but respect the lack of self-congratulations.
His mantra always seems to be: We still have more work to do.
In the press statement released by the President’s Office, both the Zimbabwe Reserve Bank, and the president were very clear. There is a lot more stolen cash out there, and he will keep working until it is returned.
It appears thus that behind us are the days when government would try to pull the proverbial wool over the eyes of the people. No longer are we being sold the theory of ‘executive omnipotence’, or ‘presidential perfection’. There was a clear admission that this is not good enough, that those cowardly thieves who refused to step and own up, will not just be left alone. They will be punished.
Even during last week’s discussion of 100 days of action, we witnessed the humble dedication of ED. While it is of course important for him and his office to show what he has done, and what his government has achieved in the first hundred days, but there was also an element of realism. Patience realism combined with hard work oozes from his administration.
Again, just from his Facebook page we can see that there is a new type of Sheriff in town. Each achievement, every success, was accompanied by a humble parenthetical remark: “We still have more work to do”, “this is just the beginning”, “we must work hard together”.
I believe we are also beginning to see this attitude in other sectors of our economy. His aggressive attitude towards his own work is apparently forcing his ministers to respond in kind. I would not be surprised if the Crocodile jaws begin to snap on ministers not pulling their weight. While it is common knowledge that ED set them a high bar from day one, it is becoming readily apparent that some are not meeting expectations.
So let us welcome the humble work ethic of ED, but at the same time demand that he continues to show his tough no-nonsense attitude when clamping down on corruption. Zero tolerance must mean zero tolerance. Those who have looted our money must indeed “feel the full force of the law”.