Full text: Jonathan Moyo statement

By Jonathan Moyo

The full spectrum of the mainstream media, without any exception, should be commended for the excellent job it is doing in the coverage of the abuse public funds and assets by some boards and management elements in some public enterprises.

So far, the media has done justice to its expected national role as the public’s eye.

It is indeed refreshing that the media is speaking with one voice in both the public and national interest against the scourge of corruption highlighted by some obscenely corrupt salaries paid by some parastatals and local authorities.

As the saga of corrupt salaries in public enterprises unfolds, it is important that the ensuing narrative does not become either a witch hunt or a cover up, as neither would be in the public or national interests.

The national discourse on this issue that has become too public to be ignored should be based on and driven by facts which should be allowed to speak for themselves.  Any witch hunt, and any cover up, will itself be corrupt and therefore not different from the bane of the crude salaries in question.

In the interest of good corporate and national governance, and indeed in the interest of rooting out the cancer of corruption from our country’s  political economy, the only way of avoiding witch hunts and cover ups is by ensuring that both media coverage of—and the policy response to—what some are now calling salarygate are driven by due process of the law and principles of good governance without being contaminated by the whims and caprices of vested interests which may themselves be corrupt or at risk of being seen as such.

Against this background, it is important to note that parastatals and local authorities under the spotlight have not only been afflicted with the scourge of corrupt salaries but also corrupt allowances, corrupt procurement procedures and corrupt prices.

In other words, we have obscene salaries, crooked allowances, fraudulent procurement procedures and distorted prices. This syndrome of quadruple corruption, which has become the ugly face of dollarization, must be dealt with in a comprehensive manner in accordance with the due process of the law.

It cannot be swept under the carpet without systematic resolution because it has very dire consequences on the national economy, particularly on the welfare and wellbeing of ordinary people whose livelihoods are facing grave risks because parastatals and local authorities are required in terms of the law to provide front line goods and services to the ordinary people.

As Zimbabweans we have a duty to resist the quadruple corruption of obscene salaries, crooked allowances, fraudulent procurement procedures and distorted prices not only because we owe it to ourselves but also others, especially our Continental brothers and sisters as well as others in the progressive world who have been inspired by President Mugabe’s iconic leadership on matters of principles expect us to lead by example.
In fact, the outside world should be forgiven for thinking that our parastatals and local authorities and the civil service are run by “little Mugabes”.

This because of President Mugabe’s widely respected  ideological stance that our sovereignty over the commercial exploitation of our God given resources to benefit our own people means that we must have zero tolerance to corruption.
While many in the leadership of the civil service, parastatals and local authorities are wont to be the first to mimic President Mugabe’s stance at level of slogans, they are in fact the last to practice those slogans in their specific responsibilities at their workplaces.

The time has come to judge the leadership in Government, the civil service, parastatals and local authorities not on the basis of what it says but on the basis of what it does.

In other words, the time has come for the leadership in these sectors to be little Mugabes in both word and deed.

Hon Professor Jonathan Moyo

Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services