By Benjamin Chitate
When Dr. Joice Mujuru spoke against corruption during the official unveiling of her party, Zimbabwe People First, the party’s faithful supporters applauded boisterously. None never bothered to check her own previous behaviour and statements about corruption.
While Acting President in 2014, Dr. Mujuru blasted the media for reporting on corruption in a way that made sane Zimbabweans shake their heads in disbelief.
This was the time when the likes of George Charamba, Cuthbert Dube and several others were being exposed for siphoning public money by giving themselves filthy allowances at the Public Service Medical Aids Society and other government parastatals.
Barely two years after those disturbing remarks, will sane Zimbabweans trust Dr. Mujuru’s position on corruption.
That corruption is rampant in Government of Zimbabwe is public international knowledge, and having been Vice-President for ten years, Dr. Mujuru was fully aware of corrupt activities. In fact, there is evidence that she has proactively been involved in corrupt activities. Her talk against corruption while in government has all be shear politicking.
A few years back, while addressing a Zanu PF rally in her own province, she spoke against corrupt Zanu PF officials who were abusing governments input meant to benefit everyone without discriminating people because of their political affiliation, but she actually said all Zanu PF supporters deserved the inputs.
She never took action against the corrupt party officials who she knew very well.
Dr. Mujuru was involved in a corruption scandal at Ziscosteel as revealed by a confidential report compiled by the National Economic Conduct Inspectorate which revealed that Dr. Mujuru was paid US$11 000 as allowances by ZISCO subsidiary in Botswana, Ramotswa/Tswana Iron & Steel, on October 4 2003. She also received 30 000 litres of fuel from ZISCO for her celebrations after she was elected vice-president in 2004.
Was it not Dr. Mujuru who, together with other corrupt officials of the Zanu PF government, drained the country’s resources through claims that they were disabled by the war of liberation?
And was it not Dr. Mujuru who tormented Strive Masiyiwa when he wanted to set up Econet as she wanted her associates to get the business? And all that is not corruption.
My fellow Zimbabweans, let us not be so gullible.
Yes, let us be excited that her pushing out of Zanu PF made her realise that she, Mugabe and her then colleagues in Zanu PF were corrupt through and through. We congratulate her for that realisation, but she must never fool us.
What we expect from Dr. Mujuru is to expose her erstwhile comrades in Zanu PF for the corrupt practices that she knows they did, both those who have moved with her into the Zimbabwe People First and those remaining in Zanu PF.
When she does that, Zimbabweans will know that she has really changed. Short of that, I will lead the onslaught on her to disclose corrupt behaviour in the Zanu PF Government, and to allow the media to freely report on corruption. That is the best contribution she can make to pull down the corrupt Zanu PF regime.
