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Yet another sitting minister has been arrested on suspicion of corruption, as the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) takes the national fight against graft to another level.

Minister of State for Presidential Affairs in charge of Implementation and Monitoring, Joram Gumbo, was arrested on Monday, questioned by Zacc investigators and released hours later ahead of his court appearance that was scheduled for yesterday. Gumbo was arrested on charges of criminal abuse of office involving US$37 million.

In the first charge, he is accused of corruptly facilitating, during his time as Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, the awarding of a US$33,3 million tender to Indrastemas &

Homt Espana of South Africa for air traffic control equipment without following the procurement procedure. He allegedly authorised the company to supply the equipment to the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) without going to tender.

In the second one, the minister is accused of showing favour to his relative, Ms Mavis Gumbo, by awarding her a contract to rent out her house to Zimbabwe Airways. As part of the deal, it is alleged Gumbo directed the release of US$1 million for the refurbishment of Ms Gumbo’s property, at 1436 Gletwin, Shawasha Hills, just south of Glen Lorne in Harare and customising it into the airline’s headquarters. Charges will be that Government lost US$1 million in refurbishing the property and Ms Gumbo received huge amounts of money in monthly rent from a Government investment.

Thirdly, Gumbo stands accused of corruptly reinstating CMED chief executive Mr Davison Mhaka, despite a disciplinary tribunal finding him guilty of misconduct after he authorised payment of US$2,7 million to a fuel company for the supply of fuel that was never delivered.

Despite the tribunal finding Mr Mhaka guilty and his subsequent dismissal by the CMED board, Gumbo intervened and directed his reinstatement without explanation.

In the fourth charge, Gumbo is accused of disregarding the decision of the CAAZ board to fire its general manager Mr David Chawota after finding he had awarded the air traffic control equipment contract to Indrastemas & Homt Espana without following laid down procedure.

Gumbo’s arrest by Zacc followed that of then Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Prisca Mupfumira in July. Mupfumira is accused of swindling the National Social Security Authority of US$95 million during her time as Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister. She spent some time in remand prison but the High Court released her on $5 000 bail late September. Her release came weeks after President Mnangagwa had fired her from her ministerial position on August 8.

Gumbo and Mupfumira are the highest profile figures to be arrested by Zacc after the body was reconstituted and given arresting powers early this year. Also arrested in recent months on charges of corruption is former Director of State Residences Douglas Tapfuma. He is appearing in court for criminal abuse of office after he allegedly imported a fleet of vehicles without paying duty.

Tapfuma, who was last year reassigned as Principal Director Monitoring and Evaluation in the Office of the President and Cabinet allegedly imported his personal vehicles and misrepresented that he was doing it on behalf of the State, as a way of evading paying tax. These three cases are possibly among the 200 or so that Zacc announced recently were being investigated.

The arrests demonstrate the Government’s commitment to fighting corruption, an economically and socially destructive practice that had taken root in the country. Over the years, some ministers and senior Government officials were exposed for engaging in high level corruption but none of them were arrested for them to clear themselves in court. The vice was also prevalent at lower levels of society. Police officers openly solicited and accepted bribes at road blocks, officers at the Registrar-General’s (RG) Office demanded inducements to issue passports and birth certificates and Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) officials sneaked into official servers to clear imported vehicles while pocketing hefty sums of money from the public. Some four Zimra officials were arrested recently and charged. About 33 officers at the RG’s Office in Harare were arrested too over missing receipt books and embezzlement of thousands of dollars. Receipt books went missing and the officers, mainly cashiers, stand accused of stealing money paid by people seeking documents like passports, birth certificates and replacement national identity documents. They pocketed the money instead of banking the fees in terms of the law.

It had become a free-for-all kind of system in the country as people were apparently encouraged to engage in corruption because of inaction by law enforcement agencies to combat the vice.

We have to state that Mupfumira, Gumbo, Tapfuma and other junior government officers arrested for alleged corruption are innocent until competent courts prove them guilty but we see action against them as evidence that the Government is genuine in its drive to weed out corruption in the country. The arrests, especially of the trio, are a warning to would-be criminals that whatever station they are at in society, they can be arrested if they engage in corruption.

Going forward, citizens expect not only more of the same, but also convictions of the corrupt among us and seeing them serving time in prison for their transgressions. This can help in the anti-corruption drive.