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Stephen Mpofu Perspective
When a head of state makes a strong and dramatic announcement, he automatically sets an agenda for the nation to run with the call.

President Mugabe denounced and decried corruption in the strongest possible way this week. He therefore set in motion a blitz on corrupt worms hibernating in not only the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation but also in various structures of Zimbabwean society.

Whoever they are and wherever they wriggle the corrupt persons, be they men or women, are the scum not only of Zimbabwe but of earth and should not therefore be allowed to continue to savour sumptuous meals by day, drive cushy cars or rest their heads on cushy pillows at night to celebrate their plunder with their wives or girlfriends or by themselves.

The President might not be aware of how much his denunciation has triggered avalanche upon avalanche of public support for his no-nonsense stance against corruption, so that heads, grey or graying or still with lush black hair and big or small must start to roll with sounds that reverberate throughout the country to serve as a warning that corruption, all manner of corruption, even that which is encrusted on various crevices of governmental or quasi-governmental structures should be got rid of.

To begin with, former ZMDC chairman Godwills Masimirembwa whom the President has openly indicted over corruption must have cubs who walked in his shadow or ran errands for him to make good the scum which has no doubt soiled the image of that parastatal, and it will be foolhardy of anyone not to believe that other bigwigs within or without the mining sector did not have a bite, however small in the succulent diamonds pie.

Those charged with investigating the diamonds scandal can only do justice to their assignment by casting the net wider and might in the process catch some culprits by the leg, or arm or even by the ear so that justice is not only done but is seen to be done for the good of the image of this country.

After successfully co-hosting the United Nations World Tourism Organisation General Assembly with Zambia in Victoria Falls and in Livingstone, Zimbabwe no doubt stands on the threshold of an unappreciated flood, of tourists as well as of potential foreign investors in that lucrative industry, a money- spinner around the world.

But no sane persons will bring their money to a country where porous hands wait poised to receive it. Indeed a country whose image, its star, is besmirched by its corrupt citizens can expect to enjoy the goodwill of the world, least of all celebration by even those countries that are otherwise its all weather allies.

What this humble pen suggests in light of President Mugabe’s vehement attack on corrupt tendencies, is that guardians of the law tasked to probe the ZMDC scam and possible ramifications must stretch the net even to breaking limits to cover any suspected private or public parastatal leaders who might have colluded with smelly characters in the diamond industry, given the lucrative nature of that mineral.

Surely it is not beyond reason to suspect that secret earnings from diamonds, in light of the illegal sanctions imposed by the West on marketing that mineral must have remained stashed away in bank accounts abroad, and this necessitates a thoroughgoing investigation of all those people in key positions of overseeing the mining and marketing of diamonds so that every cent hidden abroad or within

Zimbabwe is accounted for in order to benefit the nation as a whole by driving the economy.

It is known that when constipated one is often uncontrollably wont to pass out foul air even in public. Similarly, those constipated with too much money often find it difficult to remain too close with it, and so parcel it out to others, like foul air, to celebrate their ill-gotten riches.

Those given the duty of cleansing society of corruption, should open their eyes to discover why, for instance, people with no strong background of wealth suddenly tear around in posh cars, or flaunt their wealth through purchases of properties or the like.

In the past, when the commuters complained about corruption by some traffic police officers who demanded bribes, for instance, some superiors in the force have been quick to defend their subordinates by quashing any claims of wrongdoing.

Where the corrupt bug is already at work, grazing at the fabric of law, any support of corrupt tendencies by anyone in whatever position is tantamount to encouraging a spread of the scum.

The President’s stance on corruption suggests that no person or institution, private or public, should allow themselves to succumb to any unorthodox dealings in their day to day operations, as the ultimate result is a defeat of the law of the country as well as the good name of our nation.

In this pen’s view, therefore, the law as the scalpel in the hands of doctor — guardians of the law who must be clean themselves in the first place — should cut deeper into the flesh of this country to cut and gouge out all cancerous cells and their ramifications in order completely to route out the cancer.

If in the end the result is that the body shrinks but is rendered healthier without the cancer, so be it. There should be no regrets we should celebrate the result.

However, any marked success in the blitzkrieg against the corruption scourge in both the public and private sectors will be achieved only if every Zimbabwean becomes the eye and ear of the law against corruption.

The powers that be might wish to provide a way through which citizens can supply information to relevant authorities about those they know to be engaged in corrupt practices for investigations to be carried out in a more systematic way.

If Zimbabweans want to rid the country of corruption then they should become functional stakeholders by policing our society and exposing the rot where it exists.

There should therefore be no sacred cows in the campaign against corruption.