The Legacy of Corruption and State of the Economy in

Zimbabwe.

Shylock Samson, Political Science Undergraduate at the University of

Zimbabwe (2017)

Shyloc18@gmail.com
The continuous confusion and outcry of Zimbabweans on the evil deeds of corrupt activities in
public sector by public officials and continuous melt down of economy inspired to undertake this
paper. The main purpose of this paper is to examine corruption in public sector in relation with the
status of economy in Zimbabwe. It has be established that the strength of the countrys economy is
emanated from low levels of corruption. Hence because of poor economic growth in Zimbabwe,
corruption is at a totemic level that means it has become a standard of live. However some would
argue that corruption is the defining factor that led to poor economic status in Zimbabwe hence
without corrupt activities in public sector, the Zimbabwes economy would not have melted down.
Therefore the controversy this paper seeks to address is on question that: Does corruption leads to
poor state of economy or poor state of economic results in high levels of corruption? In Zimbabwe,
corruption is at the systemic level although various analysis shows that petty and grand corruption
are most prevalent type of corruption. Public sector officials in Zimbabwe have been seen winning
in corrupt deeds and meeting their private gain at the cost of service delivery. In Zimbabwe, most
prevalent forms of corruption includes among others the following bribery, nepotism, gross
mismanagement of government institutions funds and misuse of government assets, selling of
council assets at low rates. This paper also highlight the extent to which public institutions such
that police, judicial, custom authorities etc. have intensified corruption. In conclusion, this paper
provide measures to curb corruption in Zimbabwe and these measures include an effective public
sector auditing, punishing of offenders, whistle blowing, strong independent oversight bodies
should be put in place, improvement of remuneration, enhancing media to investigate and publish
corrupt activities and Civil society engagement in investigating cases of corrupt activities in public
sector in Zimbabwe.

Key words: Corruption, Public sector, Economy.

1|Page
2|Page
INTRODUCTION.

According to oxford dictionary 2013, corruption is willing to act dishonestly in return for money
or personal gain. Therefore from this definition, the underline motive for public officials to
engage in corrupt activities, is to gain or pursue self-interest. Most of the global south countries
are entangled in gross corrupt activities and this has been the main cause for the under development
of Zimbabwe and Africa as whole. Evans (2013) argues that corruption is the act by which
insiders profit at the expense of outsiders (conveying the ideas of abuse of position, offending
against relationships, and underhandedness). Furthermore, Palmier (1985:16) gives a short and
direct definition of corruption as the use of public office for private advantage. Some analysts
view corruption as a crime against humanity and offenders must be tried at the international
criminal court. Corruption is a very grave crime that undermines social and economic progress. In
Zimbabwe, corruption has been a public policy talking point among stakeholders and according to
various experts, corruption is mainly perpetrated by the public officials who use their offices to
their advantages, conceal corrupt activities such that the public will be kept in dark. This a clear
illustration of the levels of corruption in Zimbabwe, corruption has become associated with those
who are top crust in public institutions such that public funds are being siphoned into private
accounts which result in poor service delivery and widening gap between the poor and the rich.

According to transparency international (2015), Zimbabwes annual state of corruption report on

political economy of corruption and the battle for accountability in Zimbabwe, corruption in
Zimbabwe is a topical, developmental, economic and governance policy issue. Thus corruption
in Zimbabwe is affecting all sectors of human lives such that Zimbabwe is experiencing worst
economic crises since independence. Hence corruption in Zimbabwe has led to weak government
institutions to achieve set goals of the policy, ineffective legal system, lack of transparency and
accountability, high poverty and unemployment rate, political instabilities in form of civic protest
and violence, political interference on operation of anti-corruption agencies, capital flight, de-
industrialization, low investment, poor service delivery.

According to 2015 Transparency International report (ITZ), social media groups like #This Flag
and #Tajamuka have cited corruption in President Robert Mugabe's government and police
roadblocks where money is taken from motorists as among the main reasons for protest that have
rocked the Southern African nation in the last few months. Moreover, ITZ report highlights that

3|Page
the police, local councils, the vehicle inspection department that issues driving licenses and the
education department were among the most corrupt institutions. However this reports only gives
corruption report in public sector but in Zimbabwe, private sector has been under the spotlight
especially in agriculture and banking service where many ordinary citizens lost their money due
to top banks officials disappear in thin air with their hard earned money.

TYPES OF CORRUPTION IN ZIMBABWE.

Zimbabwe is facing major two types of corruption that is grant corruption and petty corruption.

Petty corruption.

This type of corruption is most prevalent in the low ranks of social class and this is done by
everyday abuse of public office by mid and low level officials. This form of corruption is mainly
experienced in public institutions such as police, schools, passport centers, municipal offices,
hospitals, legal institutions and other public institutions that interact day to day with ordinary
citizens. This form of corruption according to economic expects has been the main attribute to the
melting down of Zimbabwes economy and under this type of corruption, bribery is the most
prevalent form of corruption.

Grand Corruption.

According to Transparency international Zimbabwe (2015) grand corruption takes place at the top
level of the public sphere and the senior management levels of business where policies and rules
are formulated and executive decisions are made. This type of corruption is often committed by
those who have money and also well connected to the ruling elite. In Zimbabwe, corrupt activities
that are at the grand level, seeks to influence government officials to promulgate laws that favors
the bribing candidate. However, grand corruption cases only surface to the public domain only
after lost ties between the actors involved. Some experts suggested that, grand corruption cases
that reach public domain, are a result of the intra party fighting and perpetrators are rarely
prosecuted.

4|Page
 THE HISTORY OF CORRUPTION IN ZIMBABWE.

Many ordinary Zimbabweans view corruption as a sudden wave that erupted from economic
mismanagement they felt its effects only less than a decade ago especially period 2008 and 2009
of economic meltdown. However, Zimbabwes economy did not start putrefying today but soon
after independence, during the period of Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) some would
say. Zimbabwes economy was one of the fast growing emerging economy. However, the
deterioration of this emerging economy occurred gradually in trivial cases over a certain period.
Main perpetrators during that period were top government officials. These government officials
conscious or unconsciously planted a cancerous propensities that was allowed to slowly eat away
the societys fabric over decades.

According Southall (2013), the majority of nationalist leadership in Zimbabwe were part of an
emerging African petty bourgeoisie in the 1950 and 60s who were former mission school teachers,
nurses, low ranking civil servants who were frustrated by their lack of opportunity in segregationist
Rhodesia. Therefore, that being the case, David Moore (2003) argue that Zimbabwes party-
state bourgeoisie embraced a processes of primitive accumulation rather than diverting resources
into productive investments, hence this kleptocratic bourgeoisie engaged in parasitic and
mercantile activities which by mid 2000s has totally bankrupted the state. The end of gruesome
liberation struggle and the ushering of independence witnessed those former low and middle
income nationalist leadership and those that had a well connection with the government officials,
now moving upward of the social ladder because the white minority were gradually being removed
or left the government post due to frustration. Zimbabwe in the mid-1990s saw the number of
Black Nationalist in government doubled as compared to mid-1980s. Most of the government
positions were given to those who were loyal to the President and also to the ruling party hence
nepotism, patronage and bribery were most prevalent forms of corruption during that period.
Meredith (2002) notes that how rapidly the new elite of politicians, civil servants and military
and police chiefs adapted to the lifestyle once reserved for the whites: moving into spacious houses,
driving expensive cars, dining in fashionable restaurants and buying farms, hotels and business as
well as enrolling their children in private schools and staging sumptuous wedding, lavish funerals
and grand weekend parties. In such a new Zimbabwes political landscape, the gap between the
poor and rich started to widen and those who questioned such kind of life now experienced by the

5|Page
black rich Zimbabweans, were forced into exile, detained, killed or given a small piece of cake
as way of silencing. During the period 1987 to mid-2000s corruption cases skyrocketed such that
almost everyone in the top government positions were in one way or another entangled in corrupt
activities.

According to Southall (2013) 1984 party leadership code required that all party officials and
senior civil servants owing more than 50 acres of land, more than one house, engaged in business
or raised loans except against the security of their earnings should declare their earnings and
disclose how they acquired them. This leadership code issued by then Prime Minister Robert
Mugabe was a grandstand towards curbing corruption in the newly established government but
however, this leadership code was just an empty warning shots in the sense that only few top
government officials followed the leadership code. The code did not specify the remedies that
could be followed if a top government official defied the leadership code. Despite the issuance of
leadership code, corruption in Zimbabwes public sector increased significantly as compared the
period before the decree of 1984 leadership code. This demonstrate that many governments top
officials, senior civil servants, military and police chiefs swept the leadership code under the
carpet.

The then Prime minister Robert Mugabe, although was so eager to build Zimbabwe on a socialist
base (Marxist-Leninism), a series of corruption cases soon dominated in Zimbabwe and these
corrupt activities were directly or indirectly linked to his top government members. These top
ranked corrupt cases include the Paweni scandal (1982), National Railways Housing Scandal
(1986), Air Zimbabwe Fokker Plane Scandal worth $100 million (1987), Zisco Steel blast Furnace
Scandal (1987), Willowgate Scandal (1988), ZRP Santana Scandal (1989), War Victims
Compensation Scandal (1994), GMB Grain Scandal (1995), VIP Housing Scandal (1996), Boka
Banking Scandal (1998), ZESA YTL Soltran Scandal (1998), Harare City Council Refuse
Tender Scandal (1998), Housing Loan Scandal (1999), Noczim Scandal (1999), DRC timber and
diamond UN reported scandals (1999), GMB Scandal (1999), Ministry of water and rural
development Chinese tender scandal (1999), Harare Airport Scandal (2001), pillaging and milking
of Zisco steel (2005-8), pillaging of diamonds in Chiadzwa (2006-present), the Airport Road
Scandal (2008-2014), the perpetual milking of Zimbabwe and the pillaging of the central bank
under Gideon Gono .

6|Page
However, government officials that were involved in these corrupt scandals went scot-free and
also a point to note is that, these cases became into public consciousness only after an intra-party
fighting. Therefore, there is a greater chance that, there are more high profile corrupt cases in
Zimbabwe that takes place under the public radar. More so, the rate of corruption and scandals has
increased significantly soon after land invasion in 2003 turning into an unwarranted and evil spiral
that has sucked out resources for development in Zimbabwe.

In 2014, Zimbabwe was ranked 150th out of 168 countries on the Transparency International
index, which measures public perceptions of corruption in public institutions. In 2011, Zimbabwe
had a Corruption Perception Index (CPI) score of 2.2 and an overall rank of 154out of 182 countries
assessed. In 2012, the CPI was presented on a scale of 0 to 100, with 0 being the most corrupt and
100 being the least corrupt, Zimbabwe was one of the countries assessed and it scored 20, on the
CPI score, Transparency International Zimbabwe TI-Z (2012).

CORRUPTION IN ZIMBABWES PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS.

Corruption and Judicial System in Zimbabwe.

The American founding fathers after the revolutionary war in 1789, decided to draft a constitution
that could prevent any single group or institution in government from gaining too much authority.
Therefore, the framers of American constitution divided the government into legislative, executive
and judicial. This development was largely influenced by enlightenment thinkers such as John
Locke and Montesquieu who largely advocated a government which was accountable and
transparency. The main purpose was to establish a system of checks and balances in government.

In Zimbabwe, the judicial branch has limited powers which is only confined to declaring acts of
other government branches constitutional or unconstitutional. It has also power to adjudicate civil
ligations. The judicial system in Zimbabwe, the President has the power to appoint judges and also
has massive influence in judicial activities. According to section 180 (1) of Zimbabwe (2013)
constitution, the Chief justice, the Deputy Chief Justice, the Judge President of the High Court
and all other judges are appointed by the President in accordance with this section. This entails
that, the President has discretion in selecting judicial officers based on his or her likings as this is
propped by section 180 (3) If the President considers that none of the persons on the list submitted

7|Page
to him in terms of subsection (2) (e) are suitable for appointment to the office, he or she must
require the Judicial Service Commission to submit a further list of three qualified persons,
whereupon the President must appoint one of the nominees to the office concerned. This is a huge
blow in the struggle against corruption in the sense that, most of the corrupt activities in Zimbabwe,
are directly involved by those that have close ties with the President. A judicial officer cannot bite
the hand that feed him, hence Zimbabwean judicial officers are accountable to the office of the
President and they cannot adjudicate against the executive. Thus, in Zimbabwe, various experts
and ordinary citizens have a certain degree of confidence that the judicial sector is at modest risk
of corruption.

Moving on, according to Investment Climate Statement (2015) report most cases that are non-
political, the judiciary is generally impartial. However, as the Zimbabwean constitution gives
powers to the President to appoint judges, Country Report on Human Rights Practices (2014) notes
that the executive tends to influence judges and magistrates and often interferes in politically
contentious issues. For example in 2014, President Robert Mugabe challenged anyone (judicial
officers) who dares to rule on the matters of the expelled Zanu Pf ruling party member Dydimus
Mutasa. Moreover, in August 2016, the President also challenged the judicial ruling on the legality
of protesting against government under #this flag movement. Thus most elicit deals by top
government officials tend to be protected by the executive power and influence.

Finally, according to Afrobarometer (2015), a majority of Zimbabweans perceive judges and

magistrates to be involved in corruption and 21 percent of civilian survey respondents have paid a
bribe or gave a gift to get assistance from courts. Afrobarometer, (2015) further observe that
almost no Zimbabweans who experience bribery report the incident to the authorities because
they fear adverse consequences, do not expect anything to be done about it, or believe the
authorities themselves are corrupt. This demonstrate that ordinary citizens does not have
confidence in public institutions that have the mandate to monitor corruption due to various
reasons such as fear of death and intimidation by police.

Corruption and Zimbabwe Republic Police.

Petty corruption activities by the Zimbabwe Republic Police is at sorry state such that, many
ordinary citizens consider police as the formal day light robbers. According to Afrobarometer
8|Page
(2015), the majority of Zimbabweans perceive the police as the most corrupt institution in the
country. In such case, many experts in Zimbabwe concur that, Polices massive presents in roads
is a clear demonstration of its enormous ambitious goal to take away every penny Zimbabweans
has worked for in their informal sectors (Musikasi) as it is popularly known. From the observation
undertaken during the time of writing this article, the police is believed to collect approximately
sixty thousand dollars (USD $60 000) in illegal road blocks and spot fines nationwide each day.
This is buttressed by the Country Report on Human Rights Practices (2014) report, the police
suffers from poor working conditions, a lack of training and resources, and low salaries, so
corruption is common -especially at lower levels.

In public transport, the top national police officials own most the public taxes (Kombis) and
according to concerned residents in Harare, the Police is likely to detain a public taxi that is not
owned by the government official or in most cases by the Police officials despite that taxis has
legal papers and it passed the required fitness test to commute the public. Corruption cases in
Police service is enormous and in most cases the Police has been politicized to such an extent that,
Police is reluctant to arrest any top government officials who are corrupt. In such case, most public
taxi owners resort to bribe the Police officials so that their taxis will not be apprehended. Hence
with such rogue actions, corruption has become insignia in Zimbabwe.

Moreover, Zimbabwes roads are poorly maintained and this Southern African state is considered
to be one of the Africas top ranked country with an alarming high cases road accidents.
Afrobarometer (2015) reports that one in four survey respondents who had contact with the police
paid a bribe to obtain a service or to avoid problems. The government gave mandate of road
regulations to the Zimbabwe Republic Police but the fateful consequence is that, because of
endemic corruption in this public institution, many public and private motorist are being cleared
to pass through on Police road blocks as result, the owners of the vehicles are able to bribe the
police officers. This stipulates that Zimbabwe government and National Police only value the
importance of bribes rather than human lives.

Corruption and Zimbabwes Customs Authorities.

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country and it depends with other countries sea ports to exports its
goods overseas. Since 2008, Zimbabwes trading trends changed from that of an exporter to that
of an all imports goods and services. Zimbabwes points of entry are the busiest entries in the

9|Page
entire region and that being the case, corruption in these points of entry has increased significantly.
The Beitbridge border post with South Africa is considered to the busiest boarder post in Africa
and also the most corrupt border post. In Zimbabwe, customs authorities operate at very low
capacity due to lack of funds, dilapidated technology and resources to follow up on custom
developments. Against this background, Global Enabling Trade Report (2014) report that, there
is a very high risk of corruption when interacting with Zimbabwe's customs authorities. Bribery
is the most common form of corruption when dealing with the movement of goods in Zimbabwe.
Bribing is used so to move the goods quickly upon custom authorities and used to acquire essential
documents. Some business companies pay bribes to custom authorities so that they will not pay
tax when retailing their goods and services.

According to the World Trade Organization (WTO), members have the right to impose Trade
Remedies such as Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Duties to correct the competitive imbalances
created by unfair trade practices when they cause or threaten to cause serious injury to local
industry. Thus in line with the Zimbabwe National Trading Policy (2012-2016), The Zimbabwe
Revenue Authority (ZMRA) is responsible for administering the Rules of Origin, which are laws,
regulations and administrative rulings applied by the Government to determine the origin or source
of imported goods. Thus ZMRA has a mandate to control goods imported in Zimbabwe but
however, there has been a growing concern among stakeholders that, due to endemic corruption
in ZMRA, most of the goods that are entering into Zimbabwe are substandard. This entails that,
the custom authorities are receiving bribery from foreign traders. Some concerned local traders
argues that, companies that have a well-connected relationship with top government officials
imports goods via illegal points of entry. This clearly demonstrate that, endemic corruption in
Zimbabwe has attributed to the collapse of Zimbabwes economy.

Corruption and Administration of Natural Resources in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe has abundance natural resources such that geological experts proclaim that, there are
natural resources in Zimbabwe that are yet to be discovered. Zimbabwe has various valuable
minerals such as gold, coal, platinum and other small minerals. The discovery of diamond in 2008
in Marange area in Manicaland, transformed the administration of natural resources in Zimbabwe.
Government became more involved in the mining of the diamond under the pretext of
indigenization. Corruption became everyday business and companies that wanted to mine in

10 | P a g e
Zimbabwe, had to bribe tender boards so as to get the license. From 2008 to 2015, top government
officials who were directly involved in the mining and management of diamonds became
frequently involved in corruption allegations and revenues from the industry were often not
reported.

Furthermore, since the discovery of diamonds in Marange area, government issued license to
various domestic and foreign companies to mine diamond but however, this gave several loopholes
for government top officials to loot diamonds. During the same period, the governments
inability to establish an effective monitoring board to oversight the management of the diamond
led to increase in elicit diamond related corrupt activities. Thus lack of transparency in the
management of diamond led to disappearance of USD$15 billion. Bloomberg (2016) reports that,
according to President Mugabe, the illicit trade has cost the economy USD 13 billion, leading
him to create a new state monopoly in 2016 and ordering all diamond-mining companies to end
operations and vacate their premises in the Marange diamond fields. This shows that public sector
officials are in constant mission of self-enrichment as long they are in office. According to joint
report by African development bank and the Global financial report (2013) notes that from 1980
to 2009, Zimbabwe cumulatively lost USD11.8 billion due to elicit resource transfer. From this
observation, the cost of corruption on Zimbabwes economy is at an average of USD$1 billion
each year yet Zimbabwe has annual budget of USD4.5 billion.

Corruption and Distribution of Land and Stands in Zimbabwe.

Land ownership in Zimbabwe is a topical issue and the government has tried by all means that,
Zimbabweans must own a certain piece of land. Since the time of liberation struggle, land
remains a pivotal in Zimbabwes political discourses, however, the issue of land has been
politicized to such an extent that those who are well connected to the ruling elite are able to own a
vast amount of land. The transfer of land from the white minority to the black majority ensured
that, new black farmers could accept bribes from the white minority who wanted their deposed
land. Corruption and land ownership has become hand in glove situation, where top government
officials could sell the land to white Zimbabwean at a high price. In Zimbabwe, it has become a
customary that, every incoming government minister on lands and housing development is largely
entangled in the corruption cases.

11 | P a g e
Moreover, according to independent media house reports, land in Zimbabwe is given to people
based on a patronage system thus ruling party supporters only have a chance to own land and
residential stands. Some of the top government officials have exploited this situation by extorting
money from the ordinary citizens in return they use they political stature to protect their land
from being taken away by responsible authorities. For example according to BBC Africa news
bulleting (2015), the minister of state for Mashonaland Central province, Martin Dinha, has been
charged with extorting more than USD 60,000 from a farmer to protect the farmer from eviction.
In related cases, ordinary citizens have been evicted by the state and their land is given to civil
servant so a way to buy their loyalty. Such level of grant corruption has left ordinary citizens at
the messy of the elite ruling class in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe has a fast growing residential
communities, however, ordinary citizens are in continuous outcry and confusion as result of their
money being extorted by corrupt bogus cooperative directors who are well connected to the
ministry concerned.

Corruption and Tender Administration in Zimbabwe.

Corruption in Zimbabwe has affected business community to such an extent that even to attain
license from the responsible authorities, one needs to pay a bribe. Tender boards in Zimbabwe
have the mandate to issue license to firms that seeks to operate in Zimbabwe. Corruption under
tender administration has increased significantly and firms that usually obtain license have a sound
mutual relationship with the top government officials. Global Competitiveness Report (2015-
2016) notes that, irregular payments or bribes in connection with the awarding of public contracts
or licenses are common, favoritism in the decisions of government officials are common, and
public funds are often diverted. Several government projects are contracted to companies that are
mostly owned by several top government officials. Zimbabwe like the rest of Africa, nepotism is
the most prevalent form of corruption in the administration of tenders, usually tenders that are so
enormous are given to those who have family ties with those who hold public offices. The
contractors often does not apply for the tenders but because of close ties with those in public
offices, nepotism takes its course. Moreover, most of these contractors do not provide services
that is at par with the huge amount of money they are given by the responsible authority. Thus
government contractors in Zimbabwe have become mega rich overnight at the expense of public
funds that were supposed to enhance service delivery in Zimbabwe.

12 | P a g e
Corruption and Service Delivery in Zimbabwe.

The clich that western sanctions has crippled nations urban council capacity to operate has
been a hiding out cafes, public officials now used to loot ordinary citizens their right to a better
service delivery. Most of the urban councils in Zimbabwe operate below 40% capacity and the
tragedy is that, these responsible public officials are often seen staging glamorous parties and own
expensive cars. Investment Climate Statement (2015) notes that, among state-owned enterprises,
corruption is rife and senior executives award themselves exorbitant salaries. Thus according to
concerned residents, city councils in Zimbabwe demands ordinary citizens to pay certain amount
of money so that, council will provide service delivery like road maintenance, electricity
connection (reconnection), sewage and dump collection and provide portable water. This is
reinforced by Global Competitiveness Report (2015-2016), irregular payments in relation to
public utilities frequently occur. Furthermore, according to Afrobarometer (2015), twenty-five
percent of surveyed Zimbabweans who tried to obtain an identity-related document (such as a
drivers license, a passport, or a permit) say they paid a bribe once or twice or often to obtain
the document. Thus against this background, Zimbabwes economy collapsed because of
insensitive and opaque government bureaucracy that continuously self-enrich at the expense of the
ordinary Zimbabweans.

Corruption and Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission.

Soon after independence as I alluded to earlier in this paper, the new government officials corrupt
cases soon dominated the new state. In 1984, the leadership code was the first official step towards
denouncing corruption. The leadership code gave the micro landscape of the macro problem of
corruption that had to follow years later. Zimbabwe is a Southern African state and it holds a pole
position in Africa items of literacy rate, therefore against such background, Zimbabwe has a well
sounding laws that in theory, can eradicate corruption in a matter of few moments. However in
practice, according to Global Competitiveness Report (2015-2016), the Zimbabwean law
pertaining corruption is strong, but the government primarily prosecutes individuals who have
fallen out of favor with the ruling party. This clearly demonstrate that corruption is a serious
crime when it is committed by individual or board that has no longer have ties with the top
government officials. In Zimbabwe, it is almost every day that, there are reports of high level
officials entangled in a corrupt activities but the public rarely heard the verdict. This entails that

13 | P a g e
those corrupt officials that are prosecuted because they have been thrown outside the magical
bubble. According to the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) criminalizes active and passive
bribery, extortion, money laundering in the public and private sectors. The Zimbabwean Anti-
Corruption Commission has the directive to investigate corruption offences, but its recital has been
poor and some experts have argued that, corruption has even consumed the anti-corruption
authority that is supposed to monitor corruption tendencies in Zimbabwe.

Corruption and Election Administration in Zimbabwe.

Africa is a harvest house of statesman who continuous hold firm to the political power. Many
African statesman die in office or removed from power through military coups. In Zimbabwe,
political corruption increased significantly soon after the establishment of multi-party system in
early 2000s. During the election period, political party candidates are alleged to be involved in the
serious electoral scandals. Vote-rigging in the form of excluding some eligible voters from voting,
manipulating the voters register or the counting system, vote buying and bribery of electoral
observers are some of the most prevalent forms of corruption in electoral administration. The
tragedy of corruption in Zimbabwe is that, the incumbent public officials uses state resources,
state treasury, civil service, police, army, and state assets to run their election campaigns. Rogue
deals with business community as means to finance the political parties especially the ruling party
such that the party will remain in power. As I allude earlier, the contractors in tender
procurement are obliged to finance the public officials since they were given favoritism in lucrative
government projects. In Zimbabwe, the electoral commission leaders are appointed by the
President therefore there is a high risk of political corruption.

MEASURES TO CURB IN ZIMBABWE.

Thomas Jefferson, one of the founders of American democracy, once said: experience has shown
that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power will, in time, and by slow
operations, get perverted into corruption. Hence corruption when it reaches totemic level, it is
very difficult to disentangle from it. Experts have argued that, the struggle against corruption is a
never ending war because actors that are involved in corrupt activities, do it secretly. There are
various possible recommendations but total eradication of corruption is difficult.

14 | P a g e
The first and costless possible option is walk the talk and talk the walk. Corruption starts with a
single person or family and then complimented by others. If one decides to stop, chain of
corruption will break way. Public officials and citizens at large denounces corruption but they do
not walk the talk. Hence, everyone has an obligation to denounce corruption. In Zimbabwe, the
cost of obtaining a service is far much cheaper and quick hence there must be the cultivation of a
culture that denounce corruption at a house level. Corruption cannot be reduced if there is no a
single family, school or church which decides not to be involved in corrupt activities.

Moving on, the promotion of absolute separation of powers. This means that, in cases where top
government officials are involved in the corruption scandals, judicial must be given its equal power
to adjudicate cases and give punishment to offenders despite their social or political status. The
judiciary must be given its independency thus, the appointment of judicial officers must be done
by the Judicial Service Commission. All judicial affairs must not be politically involved. The
improvement of judicial salaries so as to avoid judicial officers to receive gifts from the top
government officials.

The Zimbabwe Republic Police is a serious public organization that needs a complete renovation
for it to be effective to fight corruption. Government and rest of stakeholders must ensure that
there must be introduction of electronic devices, police must use in road blocks. This electronic
device must ensure that, when police issue spot fines, ordinary citizens will not pay hard cash to
police officers but fines must be directed to the national treasury. In such way, I believe corruption
cases involving ZRP will be reduced significantly.

Corruption in Zimbabwe mostly involve money transactions therefore, my suggestion to curb

corruption is to introduce and cultivate a culture that citizens must use money swiping cards
(plastic money). This greatly reduces corruption in the sense that, in every transition involved,
money will not disappear along the way. This option also ensures that, money will circulate
through banking sector and boost the state of economy in Zimbabwe.

Corruption in Zimbabwe can be reduced only if there are various independent media outlets. The
establishment of different media houses ensure that corrupt cases will be reported without
favoritism. Stapenhurst (2000) notes that, the impact of media reporting on corruption can be
tangible and intangible. It is tangible when some sort of visible outcome can be attributed to
a particular news story or series of stories for instance, the launching of investigation by

15 | P a g e
authorities, the scrapping of a law or policy promoting opportunities for corruption, the
impeachment or forced resignation of a crooked politician, the firing of an official, the launching
of judicial proceedings, the issuing of public recommendations by a watchdog body, and so on. It
is intangible when checks on corruption arise from the broader social climate of enhanced political
pluralism, enlivened public debate and a heightened sense of accountability among politicians,
public bodies and institutions that are inevitably the by-product of a hard-hitting, independent news
media. In such case, government officials will not be covered by state media. Government must
allow foreign media houses to operate in Zimbabwe and this will help to improve transparency
and accountability in public sector by reporting nonpartisan cases on corruption cases.

Furthermore, another possible option is to improve the efficacy and efficiency of Zimbabwe Anti-
corruption Commission. This entails that, the commission must be comprised of various
stakeholders which include civil society representatives, police representatives, independent media
houses, and judicial officers. In such a way, there will be no loopholes for the top government
officials to manipulate into their favors. The commission, like judiciary must be given its total
independency from the executive or legislative arms of government.

Civil society engagement in investigating cases of corrupt activities and whistle blowing also a
possible options to eradicate corruption in public sector. A vibrant civil society organization
ensures that corrupt cases will reach public domain since most of the corrupt cases only reported
by few Civil Society Organizations that operate in Zimbabwe. Whistle blowing high level
corruption cases ensures that ordinary citizens will be able to vote out those public officials from
office during elections.

Moreover, another possible measures to curb corruption is to improve body of knowledge about
constitutional rights to ordinary Zimbabweans. Thus, to be quite frank, Zimbabwe has a high rate
of literacy and not high rate of learned people. Most of Zimbabweans only know how to read and
write but the struggle against corruption needs citizens who are both literate and learned.
Zimbabwe has a culture of fast life and individualism therefore, most people who are capable to
fight corruption are those who are both learned and literate. During the time of writing of this
paper, I observed that most people do not know what kind of constitutional rights they have. Public
sector officials have exploited this weakness to their individual advantage. People fear to report

16 | P a g e
corrupt case because of they do not how to report them, fear of their lives. An erudite Zimbabwean
will be able to stand up and point out corrupt activities by top rank public officials.

In conclusion, from the above analysis, corruption leads to poor state of economy. Since 1980,
corruption slowly ate away the economic, social and political fabric hence by 2008, its devastating
effects became topical issue. Corruption in Zimbabwe has dragged the countrys economy to its
knees. Due to endemic corruption in Zimbabwe, it is believed that, approximately over two million
people have died due to poor social services delivery, poverty, and teenager drugs as result of
unemployment, crime and AIDS. In terms of economy, corruption have attributed to the loss of
almost USD $16 billion in elicit dealings which results in stunted economic growth, brain drain
and capital flight. Finally in terms of political status, corruption has led to intense violence between
political parties supporters. Therefore without a doubt corruption in Zimbabwes public institution
has led to economic meltdown.

17 | P a g e
REFERENCES
Palmier, L. (1985). the Control of Bureaucratic Corruption: Case Studies in Asia. Allied

Publishers.

Moor, D. (2003). Zimbabwes triple crisis: primitive accumulation, nation-state formation and
democratization in the age of neoliberal globalization. African studies quarterly.

Meredith, M. (2002. Robert Mugabe: power, plunder and tyranny in Zimbabwe, Johannesburg
and Cape Town: Jonathan hall publishers.

Transparency International Zimbabwe (TI-Z). (2012). The Coalition against corruption.

Retrieved on February 20, 2013, from www.transparency.org.zw

World Economic Forum: Global Competitiveness Report 2015-2016.

Bloomberg: "Diamond Smuggling Cost Zimbabwe Economy $13 Billion, Mugabe Says," 4 March
2016.

US Department of State: Investment Climate Statement 2015.

Afrobarometer: AD56: Police corruption in Africa undermines trust, but support for law
enforcement remains strong, 2 November 2015

Transparency International & CMI: Zimbabwe: Overview of corruption and anti-corruption, 13

January 2015.

Southall, (2013). Party-state and fueling the party machine.

BBC: "Zimbabwe minister Martin Dinha faces corruption charges," 3 September 2015.

Transparency International: An Analysis of Transparency and Accountability in Land Sector

Governance in Zimbabwe 2013, 16 June 2014.

US Department of State: Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2014.

Stapenhurst, R. (2000), The Medias Role in Curbing Corruption, World Bank Institute, World
Bank

18 | P a g e