For the period reported, there were 684 complaints and 481 of these complaints being from Harare. There is need for ZACC to do investigations and make sure everyone who is benefiting or benefited from corruption is brought to book. People are losing their hard-earned life savings to fraudsters. ZACC should fast track and catch these perpetrators. It is really pleasing to note that there was a 38% decrease of complainants received the previous year; this being attributed to vigorous prevention campaigns. Initiatives by the Commission, I suggest that these initiatives be constantly reviewed and be enforced such that at the end, we have a corrupt free environment and community.
The issue of court officials being lenient when dealing with corruption suspects is disturbing. Recently, we read in the news articles of Chinese high officials who were executed after being convicted on corruption charges. The courts should impose deterrent sentences because corruption is ravaging our country. It must be dealt with effectively and any person who commits such an offence repeatedly should be given severe punishment that is equivalent to the sentence of murder because the services or resources that he or she would have inconvenienced or robbed and deprived the people would probably have saved a life or lives if they were utilised accordingly.
Anyone who is a public office bearer, all the ill-gotten properties they would have acquired should be taken by the State and put back where they belong. The catch and release phenomena should be looked into seriously because we need a corrupt-free Zimbabwe both in urban and rural areas, including the borders.
In conclusion, I want to encourage anti-corruption training modules to be conducted. I will dwell on my previous point on gender. You stated that out of 25 participants, 17 are males; please let us have more females on board.
The report mentioned the International Anti-Corruption Day shows that corruption is not only an African or Zimbabwean issue, hence we should not struggle in isolation but we should work with the international community and learn how to fight corruption so that we develop our country as the President said, ‘Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo’. All those involved in corruption are destroyers: they should not be part of our society, they belong to the prisons where they can be rehabilitated and come back with the mindset of building their beautiful motherland. I thank you.
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