… country losing US 1.8 billion annually to graft
Beverly Bizeki
Efforts by Zimbabwean government to curb corruption seem to be fruitless as the country continues to bear the ugly fruits of the scourge which has seen it losing an estimated US $1.8 billion annually.
As the country commemorated the 20th anniversary of the International Anti-Corruption Day on December 9, 2022, a look at the economic situation in Zimbabwe tells a sad story as it is plunged into deep poverty coupled with current power black outs and inflation continually rising.
Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission Deputy Chairperson Kuziva Murapa officially lamented the loss of capital to corruption and said this causes a drawback in the progress of the nation.
“Zimbabwe alone is estimated by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) to be losing about US$ 1.8 billion annually due to illicit financial flows. This leaves governments with little or no resources to fulfil their obligations to their citizens,” said Murapa.
The day was celebrated under the theme, ‘Uniting the World against Corruption’ with Zimbabwe coming up with its own ‘Uniting Zimbabweans against corruption’.
Murapa also noted efforts by government to fight corruption citing the adoption of legal frameworks particularly the whistle-blowing.
“Allow me to highlight that our legal regime has a great lacuna in terms of the existence of a whistle-blower and witness protection framework. This has a negative effect of retarding potential whistle-blowers from whistleblowing due to fear of victimization. Therefore, corrupt people are left scot free due to lack of evidence incriminating them to acts of corruption. However, allow me to express my deep gratitude to cabinet for approving the principles of the whistle-blower framework,” added Murapa.
Guest of honour at Masvingo City commemorations Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Ezra Chadzamira became the first to sign the integrity pledge in the fight against corruption together with other department heads at the ceremony.
The anti-corruption day commemoration is born out of the global realization of the need for countries to continuously reflect on approaches adopted in the fight against corruption.
Other stakeholders who attended the commemorations include the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA), Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), Transparency International Zimbabwe (TZI) and Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs in Zimbabwe among others.
