Mr. President, we are aware that the Constitution provides for the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZAC). ZAC is therefore a constitutional body. It is this Parliament, it is us as Members of Parliament who should never ever take a back seat in upholding that Constitution. We applaud the recent move of ZAC to OPC, this lifts it above Ministerial turf wars, accusations of undue manipulation, selective investigation, settling of scores – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – ZAC should announce an open door policy to all whistle blowers from all walks of life, all political groups, all factions if there are any or any party. Let us all move and help ZAC to stamp out corruption in our society. If you hate someone and decide to report a case against them, is it also not possible for the other hated party to report to ZAC. I am sure they do not decline such information which is helpful to stamp out corruption in our system.
Countries with very strict anti-corruption regimes like Sweden, Singapore, Hon Kong and Germany actually notch high in national development. So, we cannot develop if we do not stamp out corruption. Our parastatals in this country used to be admired continentally for their service delivery in terms of economic enablers, in terms of water, transport, electricity, telecoms and many others. Now, they are a laughing stock.
We need a strong ZAC with sharp teeth to root out pervasive culture of theft and abuse of tax payer and public funds in this country. As legislators, we need to also have eagle eyes to make sure that we do stop this rot in our society if we can all come together. I liked it when somebody said, ‘it is not about they, it is about us altogether.’ – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – We need to work together to root out corruption so that our economy can develop. We can give back what our people are supposed to get from this society. I thank you.
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