Zimbabwe - Corruption
While the laws to combat corruption exist, enforcement of the laws is weak as the law enforcement agencies lack the political will and resources to do their job effectively. As a result, Transparency International ranked Zimbabwe 150 out of 175 countries and territories surveyed in 2015.
In 2005, the government enacted an Anti-Corruption Act that established a government-appointed Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to investigate corruption. However, the ACC did not include any members from civil society or the private sector. The government of national unity (GNU) enhanced the institutional capacity of the ACC with members appointed from civil society and the private sector. However, when the ACC’s term of office expired, the new ACC did not include civil society and private sector representatives. The government prosecutes individuals selectively, focusing on those who have fallen out of favor with ZANU-PF and ignoring transgressions by members of the favored elite. Accusations of corruption are used a political tool but seldom result in formal charges and convictions.
Existing rules on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange compel listed companies to disclose, through annual reports, minimum disclosure requirements.
The government also created a policy to improve accountability in the use of state resources through the introduction of the Public Finance Management Act in March 2010. In spite of this, corruption is still endemic, especially within the diamond sector where production and export figures are largely unreliable. In this respect, the government has introduced a Diamond Policy that focuses on ensuring the 100 percent government ownership of all alluvial diamonds in the ground and the involvement of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) in the entire value chain of diamond production.
In a country filled with corrupt schemes, the diamond business in Zimbabwe is one of the dirtiest. Mining in general remains the largest single source of foreign exchange, but the potential of Chiadzwa is being lost to Zimbabwean corruption.
High-ranking Zimbabwean government officials and well-connected elites generated millions of dollars in personal income by hiring teams of diggers to hand-extract diamonds from the Chiadzwa mine in eastern Zimbabwe. They sold the undocumented diamonds to a mix of foreign buyers including Belgians, Israelis, Lebanese, Russians and South Africans who smuggle them out of the country for cutting and resale elsewhere. Despite efforts to control the diamond site with police, the prospect of accessible diamonds lying just beneath the soil's surface attracted a swarm of several thousand local and foreign diggers. Although Zimbabwe is a participant in the Kimberley process, the diamonds from Chiadzwa are undocumented and therefore are not in compliance with Kimberley, which requires loose uncut diamonds to be certified.
The police were rotated into the area on two-week shifts to control the mining and keep unauthorized diggers out, but they were immediately corrupted. Police officers routinely charged 100 rand or US$10 a person for a day's digging in Chiadzwa. The military largely avoided the area out of fear that commanding officers would lose control of their troops.
The "curse" of diamonds had wreaked havoc in the community. Children were no longer attending school, the environmental degradation was severe, lawlessness and violence reigned, and the community was not benefiting from the resource. According to an independent weekly newspaper, three quarters of the schools in Marange, Buhera, and Chimanimani districts failed to open this term because teachers and students alike were digging for diamonds.
Corruption in both the public and private sectors persisted and was highly institutionalized. The country continued to experience both petty and grand corruption, defined respectively by Transparency International Zimbabwe as an “everyday abuse of entrusted power by low- to mid-level public officials” such as by police and local officials and “an abuse of high-level power by political elites.” In April 2022, a Transparency International Zimbabwe report identified bribery as rampant and existing within most public institutions. The report identified the ZRP, Registrar General’s Office, and Vehicle Inspection Department as the top three bribe-seeking institutions. On April 22, President Mnangagwa dismissed ZACC commissioner Frank Muchengwa on findings of corruption and gross misconduct, without providing additional details to the public.
Cabinet officials, including Local Government Minister July Moyo, were involved in several high-profile corruption cases. Moyo was accused of diverting $55 million in public funds and compelling local authorities in a June 14 memo to purchase firefighting trucks from Belarus at inflated prices. Press reports indicated presidential associate Alyaksandr Zingman secured the deal without following public procurement processes. Moyo also is alleged to have pushed an unduly expensive contract for a Harare City Council dump site without following procurement processes or obtaining mayoral approval.
Corruption concerns over the country’s COVID-19 response continued. In May, parliament’s Public Accounts Committee concurred with the auditor general’s 2021 findings that government officials breached the Public Finance Management Act, the Social Welfare Assistance Act, and the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act by misusing public funds meant to combat COVID-19. The committee issued a series of recommendations following its investigation which have not been implemented as of year’s end. Corruption also permeated the government’s Command Agriculture program and other agricultural programs such as the President’s Input Scheme.
On 02 June 2022, President Mnangagwa fired Deputy Agriculture Minister Douglas Karoro, citing allegations Karoro stole more than 700 tons of fertilizer and maize seed intended for farmers under the president’s Input Scheme. An investigative report released in March by The Sentry detailed extensive corruption by a benefactor of President Mnangagwa, Kudakwashe Tagwirei, who received treasury bills at a favorable exchange rate while running the Command Agriculture program.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
