The Member of Parliament for Mabvuku-Tafara James Maridadi has blamed President Robert Mugabe squarely for the rampant corruption in the country saying corruption in Zimbabwe in now institutional and needs Mugabe to take decisive action.
“The Head of State and Government and the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces, President Mugabe, as the Chief Executive of this country, must now start making a move to deal with issues of corruption,” Maridadi said during the debate on the report of the public accounts committee on the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.
“Mr. Speaker, in the just ended ZANU PF Conference, where all ministers were there, some of the most corrupt people were accredited to sit in the same House with the Head of State and Government. Some of the most corrupt people, some of them are actually on the wanted list of police but they were sitting there. The level of impunity in this country is unbelievable,” he said.
“What we have been taught as Zimbabweans and the world over is that when a fish is rotting, it starts from the head. When you are dealing with corruption in Ministries, you deal with the Minister. When a Minister is stealing and is not arrested, I do not see why a Permanent Secretary should not steal because they know they will not be arrested. I also do not see how junior officers would also not steal.
“What I can tell you Mr. Speaker is that if we arrest four or five Ministers, the problem of corruption in Zimbabwe will be over,” he said.
Full contribution
HON. MARIDADI: Thank you Madam Speaker. I wish to thank the Portfolio Committee Chairperson on Public Accounts for the Report and also the seconder of the Report. My contribution is very short because the facts of the matter have been laid out by the Portfolio Committee Chairperson. The issue I want to raise is that year in year out, we have the Portfolio Committee Chairperson on Public Accounts presenting reports to this Parliament; reports that speak to corruption in Government, corruption in Ministries and incompetence by Government employees, especially Accounting Officers that is those in charge of ministries, like the permanent secretaries; but not a single permanent secretary has been censured or fired.
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