Zacc flags corruption in govt
Zacc flags corruption in govt
According to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission, the most common crimes last year that were recorded were fraud and criminal abuse of duty, with the greatest number of cases being reported by local and central government agencies.
The Zimbabwean Parliament just received the Zacc 2022 annual report, which states that out of the 684 reports the commission received, 332 (48,50%) dealt with criminal abuse of duty and 247 (36,10%) with fraud.
Among the crimes that have been recorded are theft or theft of property, which totals 29, money laundering (21), bribery (11), forgery (nine), extortion (six), tax invasion (six), smuggling (four), and three externalization cases.
According to a crime analysis, fraud and criminal abuse of duty reports continue to be the most common types of crimes in the year under consideration. These were largely centered in rural district councils and local governments, where the compliance teams had not carried out any reviews, according to Zacc.
“Further categorising these complaints into sectors, from the 684, 335 were against public officials, representing 68,4% of the total reports received; 175 were against officials or entities in the private sector, representing 25,58% of the total; and 66 were against land barons, representing 9,64% of the total.
“Of the 335 complaints received against public officials, 255 were against public officials in various government ministries, and 80 were against public officials in local authorities and parastatals. The commission handled 16 complaints against elected officials, chiefs, headmen and village heads.”
The commission said that cases involving public officials in government were mostly against those in Lands, Agriculture, Water, and Rural Resettlement; Mines and Mining Development; and Local Government and Public Works ministries.
“Forty-six of the complaints were against officials from the Lands ministry, particularly the lands department. Most of the allegations against officials from the local authorities relate to the illegal sale of land or residential stands,” Zacc said.
“These corrupt tendencies were worsened by the emergence of land barons. For the year 2022, apart from arrests, the commission also focused on improving integrity, accountability and transparency in local authorities.”
In terms of sex offences, 338 offenders were males, 84 were females, and 262 were not specified.
“In essence, 65,5% of the total accused persons were male,” Zacc said.
Former Zacc chairperson Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo said the commission investigated a total of 157 (62%) and referred 134 (53%) dockets to the National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe (NPAZ) from the 253 cases approved by the selection committee for investigations.
“Improved engagement with the NPAZ bore fruit as the year 2022 saw the commission recording a 72% conviction rate of the cases it had referred to the National Prosecuting Authority at the completion of trial,” she said.
“These included the conviction of the former permanent secretary for the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development, three senior officers from the Vehicle Inspectorate Department, and a provincial magistrate.”
From the cases submitted to NPAZ from the previous years, 23 convictions and nine acquittals were realised for the year 2022, amounting to a conviction rate of 72%.
Justice Matanda-Moyo declared that it was a significant moment when the Cabinet approved the Witness Protection Bill, which aimed to create laws protecting witnesses, and the Public Interest Disclosure (Protection of Whistleblowers) Bill, which safeguards those who reveal information about illegal activity taking place within the companies they work for.
“These two Bills are essential to the battle against corruption because it is anticipated that they would increase public trust in the anti-corruption movement.”The commission has seen witness victimization in previous years, both before and after the trial started,” the spokeswoman stated. “Without proper safety, citizens were losing confidence and coming forward to report or testify, which was disrupting the struggle.
The provincial awareness efforts for the anti-corruption initiative that COVID-19 had obstructed were carried out by the commission. Since these areas are typically marginalized, this plan focused on the rural areas across the several provinces.
