BY DR MASIMBA MAVAZA
The excitement caused by the press Statements issued by the former youth league leaders is short lived and a none event. The behaviour of the youth was not only disgusting but indeed depressing and flabbergasting.
Surprisingly the enemies of ZANU PF started to peddle the narrative that ZANU PF is defending the corrupt. This narrative has been the figment of the detractor’s imagination which is total mischief and seriously hitting below the belt.
While we can not turn a blind eye to corruption we must be civilised enough to fight corruption in a human way. Pointing fingers without evidence blinds each other. Eye for an eye makes the world blind.
The behaviour of the youth exposes the weakness in the party hierarchy. These Youths were clearly being supported by top officials whose positions are so easy to point out. The problem with the actions taken by the youth is not the action they took but the way they acted. Tsenengamu and Matutu exhibited the most unreasonable lunacy ever exhibited on earth. They dwelt in the self praise mode and covers themselves with a false hope that they are indispensable.
Their crime was to misrepresent the revolutionary party which they did. Their behaviour was meant to cause distrust in people and make the people believe that there is confined corruption in ZANU PF. The foolishness of the youth was to present the authority as corrupt and defenders of corruption.
The actions of the youth was foolhardiness and resembled a fire powered by newspapers. A fired filed by bond paper it burns not for long.
It should mentioned that the behaviour of these misguided youth was tantamount to espionage. There is no difference between the behaviour of the opposition and that of the under fire self confident youths.
On the contrary the President PF Zimbabwe has risen above all and started fighting corruption in a way never experienced in Zimbabwe.
Mnangagwa started his new dispensation by setting up Anti Corruption institutions to fight the graft. A special department dealing with corruption led by big boy Thabani Mpofu was set and put directly under the president’s nose. A special court was set to Expedia ye the corruption cases. Mnangagwa has taken the fight against corruption as his own fight. Fight against corruption has huge significance in ensuring state security. Corruption endangers unimpeded functioning of public sector, weakens the public trust towards state institutions, and hinders democratic and stable development of the country.
Corrupted public servants represent potential targets of foreign special services and criminal groups. Hence, fight against corruption is the concern of state security.
One of the main priorities of the Anticorruption unit is to prevent, detect and suppress malfeasance, conflict of interests in public service and corruption facts.
Zimbabwean government is actively involved in activities of the Working Group established in relation to national money laundering and terrorist financing risk assessment process in the frame of the Strategy on Fight Against Money-Laundering and Financing of Terrorism.
Taking into consideration the modern anti-corruption standards and approaches, international best practices on fighting against corruption in public service are shared.
The fight against corruption must not be done in a confused manner introduced by Tsenengamu and Matutu. Corruption is complicated in itself and it needs technical way of fighting it.
The warped thoughts that one can name and shame without evidence is not only barbaric but clearly insanity.
Corruption is not fought by disorganised stubbornness and total idiocy.
Tsenengamu and Matutu were overtaken by pride and thus led themselves very fast in the dustbin of politics.
These kids did not realise that the glory they seem to get from the opposition was just a shadow in the night.
If you see your enemy cheering you must quickly know that you are approaching disaster.
Of the most disappointing of all are the senior party cadres who cheered the insanity together with the enemy.
Going public with no evidence is a recipe for disaster.
Zimbabwe considers corruption a major challenge to its twin goals of ending extreme poverty by 2030 and boosting shared prosperity for the poor. In addition, reducing corruption is at the heart of the Nation. It must be mentioned that corruption has a disproportionate impact on the poor and most vulnerable, increasing costs and reducing access to services, including health, education and justice. Think, for example, of the effect of counterfeit drugs or vaccinations on the health outcomes of children and the life-long impacts that may have on them.
Empirical studies have shown that the poor pay the highest percentage of their income in bribes. The president of Zimbabwe knows that every stolen dollar, robs the poor of an equal opportunity in life and prevents governments from investing in their human capital. So to this end no reasonable state will promote corruption.
Corruption erodes trust in government and undermines the social contract. This is cause for concern across the globe, but particularly in contexts of fragility and violence, as corruption fuels and perpetuates the inequalities and discontent that lead to fragility, violent extremism, and conflict.
Corruption impedes investment, with consequent effects on growth and jobs. Zimbabwe is capable of confronting corruption and use its human and financial resources more efficiently, in order to attract more investment, and grow more rapidly. Growth is all we want as a nation and we do not need two corrupt youths former leaders to ignite the corruption fight.
ZANU PF recognizes that corruption comes in different forms. BUT it is never fought to the gallery. Corruption impacts service delivery, such as when officers ask for bribes to perform routine services.
Corruption might unfairly determine the winners of government contracts, with awards favoring friends or relatives of government officials. Or it might affect more fundamental issues of capture, such as how institutions work and who controls them, a form of corruption that is often the costliest in terms of overall economic impact. Each type of corruption is important and tackling all of them is critical to achieving progress and sustainable change.
Corruption is never fought by gossip. It is never dealt with in a press statement.
Successful anti-corruption efforts are often led by a ‘coalition of concerned’ – politicians and senior government officials, the private sector, and by citizens, communities, and civil society organizations. Increasingly, successfully addressing corruption will require the concerted attention of both governments and businesses, as well as the use of the latest advanced technologies to capture, analyze, and share data to prevent, detect, and deter corrupt behavior. Corruption is not fought by instant heroes or attention seeking idiots.
Zimbabwe has been leveraging innovative technologies to strengthen public sector performance and productivity, confront corruption and to help foster greater trust and accountability, particularly in more fragile and economic environments.
What disgusts most is the portrayal of the party as a corrupt one.
Much of the costliest forms of corruption could not happen without institutions in wealthy people: the private sector firms that give large bribes, the financial institutions that accept corrupt proceeds, and the lawyers and accountants who facilitate corrupt transactions and the youth who shouts wolf in the face of shadows. It is true that money is moving from poor to wealthy individuals in ways that fundamentally undermine development.But this can not be dealt with by naming without evidence. Matutu and Tsenengamu are the ones thrusting spears in our children’s future. By declaring that the nation is under cartels without evidence to that scares away any investor. The behaviour was irresponsible and indeed inhuman.
What Tsenengamu and Matutu did surpasses all what Chamisa and MDC did in destroying the nation.
Corruption is a national problem that requires national solutions. ZANU PF has been working to mitigate the pernicious effects of corruption in the country To reaffirm the party’s leadership, President Mnangagwa led the nation by committing a range of steps to confront corruption.
ZANU PF has built capable, transparent, and accountable institutions and design and implement anticorruption programs relying on the latest discourse and innovations. All what Matutu and Tsenengamu had to do was utilise the systems set. Their insubordination was smelling to the heart. Their fight Should have been revolving around sustainability and changing outcomes by helping both state and non-state actors establish the competencies needed to implement policies and practices that improve results and strengthen public integrity.
Additionally, the Youth is supposed to work with the public and private sectors as well as civil society to support efforts to prevent corruption, improve remedies to address wrongdoing when it occurs as well as work towards improving behaviors, norms, and standards needed to sustain anti-corruption efforts. This will never be achieved by naming without shame.
Tsenengamu wondered on the side of error by using his mouth without brains. This became his downfall and indeed he fell. One wonders wether he is fighting for his pocket as we all know that he is very commercial. ZANU PF is a party of order and all things must be done in great order.
