There is more than meets the eye

A year and half ago, i wrote some publication for an essay competition on my own view about corruption and bribery. below is the full unedited but very short essay:

There is more than meets the eye-by Valentine Masaiti

Two months ago, Zimbabweans woke up to the devastating news in The Herald that exposed the ‘obscene’ salaries senior employees at Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation were receiving. Since then, a plethora of such obscenely salaried bosses have hit the headlines day in day out. The investigative journalists had a field day, going into overdrive to expose the next batch of heartless ‘shefs’ milking their respective companies dry at the expense of service delivery. What still boggles the mind though is how all this time these purported leaders who took oaths of office promising to serve and deliver efficiently continued with their shenanigans unperturbed, unabashed and unabated. It is a grave cause for concern that a few, probably chosen along family lines and ties with the powers that be, connived to deny the economy of the resuscitation it desperately needed. They celebrated the demise of the country and presided over its downfall. They surely have a case to answer. The unanswered question that still lingers heavily above us is how such rot was left to eat away the country. Can we safely declare that we have dealt away with such criminal activities which happened on such a magnitude? Are we seeing the real culprits or those who harvested the benefits are still fooling the public, their millions safely tucked away in offshore bank accounts? I believe there is more than meets the eye.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines corruption as “willing to act dishonestly in return for money or personal gain” and bribery as “to dishonestly persuade someone to act in one’s favour by a payment or other inducement” It does not take a rocket scientist to connect the dots. These two are linked. Leaders of these companies were drawn across the private and public sector. A very important point of study is that of PSMAS. The medical aid provider had its members, who pay monthly subscriptions, turned away from hospitals because their medical aids were not being paid for. Some even had to pay more money. The effect was that members were paying money to PSMAS without getting the services they had paid for. Taken in the lightest sense possible, the company was stealing members’ money under the convenient banner of subscriptions for a service that never was. Their excuse was that there was no money. Therein lies the problem. The Chief Executive Officer was getting more that US $320 000 a month. It follows therefore that the company was willing to, and actually did, act dishonestly by misrepresenting that it had no money for its members to access health services and in return, they gained-corruption defined. The President, in his address to Parliament, condemned corruption in all its forms but,  it still rears its ugly head. All the companies and parastatals exposed fall under different ministries, whose heads should be very much aware of who gets what in a company under that ministry’s control. Is it then remotely possible that the ministers themselves did not know? There definitely is more than meets the eye.

Corruption and bribery are institutionalized in the people of Zimbabwe such that it would take a whole generational change for the rot to disappear in its entirety. The deleterious effects of bribery are very clear if one is to travel by public transport along the major highways. The omnipresent roadblocks offer fertile hunting grounds for the corrupt police officer. It is natural for a commuter omnibus driver to disembark from his vehicle clutching a ward of notes and hand it to the officers manning the roadblock. The whole day after this, the driver will be passing without being stopped, regardless of how many traffic regulations he would be flouting. According to a 2012 survey held by Transparency International Zimbabwe, 53 percent of Zimbabweans said they had paid a bribe to police officers. If then the police become corrupt, who will police the police? This is the same case with education officers who solicit for bribes from student teachers to give them jobs. It is common for such departments and ministries to have committees which investigate matters such as these. But the rot never seems to show any signs of receding. Until recently, police officers who were exposed for corruption would simply be transferred, but still remain in the force. Is it not then clear that we are undoing the very progress that we purport to be making? It then begs the question, who benefits from such apologetic tendencies by the powers that be? Is it not that those who dictate the pace are reaping the huge rewards of their ill-gotten fortune at the expense of the public? There certainly is more than meets the eye.  

We cannot entirely overlook the effects our underperforming economy has had on the livelihoods of people. Poor remuneration in the police force has led many a police officer to turn to crime within the crime fighting unit. This then goes back to the bosses awarding themselves huge salaries and benefits. Corruption has the ripple effect that lead to more crime. An employee retrenched might find themselves committing crime just to survive whilst a few at the top smile all the way to the bank.  A decent salary above the poverty datum line would minimize institutional lethargy and corruption within the force whilst promoting effectiveness and efficiency. An efficient police force translates to effective investigations into all conduct by officials which in turn reduces corruption. The Zimbabwe Anti Corruption Commission established by the constitution is also an effective way of combating such rot. It was established to investigate and expose and combat theft and abuse of powers and to promote honesty, financial discipline and transparency in the public and private sectors. Its failure to do as such before should be condemned in the strongest terms possible. The perfect start is to ensure its total independence from any form of manipulation and political interference whilst appointments should be based on ability and qualification. Regulations should also be put in place to establish a ceiling salary for all executives and board members. Fighting corruption begins with you and me. We cannot allow our morals and values to be eroded by the temporary situation prevailing in the country at the moment. That is my humble submission.