Feature on corruption fears

In a further blow to business confidence, Zimbabwe was recently ranked among the world's most corrupt countries by the anti-corruption watchdog, Transparency International (TI). In a damning report, TI's Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2003 ranked Zimbabwe at 106 out of 133 countries sampled. In Southern Africa it stood as second-worst after Angola. The TI index is determined by the perceptions of business people who are directly doing business with the sampled countries or are potential investors. Commenting on the latest index, the local chapter of the international body, Transparency International Zimbabwe (TI-Z), said the perceptions of graft were the result of a number of factors. "Matters relating to political and civic participation, media operating environment, access to information, judicial independence - which is crucial to the enforcement of all rights and particularly property rights - all play a major role in forming a perception about the state of fair play, or lack of it, in Zimbabwe," said a TI-Z statement. Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and his key lieutenants were last year slapped with travel restrictions and had their offshore accounts frozen by the United States and the European Union over alleged human rights excesses, a disorderly and violent land redistribution programme, and electoral fraud. The country is also under suspension from the councils of the Commonwealth after the organisation accused the government of rigging the 2002 presidential election. Zimbabwe's rating on the CPI has steadily worsened over the years. The country was ranked 43 in 1998 and moved two places down two years later, before plummeting to 71 in 2002. The slump indicated in this year's CPI represents the country's sharpest fall yet. Analysts say the current rating will have a drastic impact on the economy, which is already burdened with company closures and downsizing, a runaway inflation rate predicted to hit 600 percent before the end of the year, lack of foreign currency and shortages of even basic commodities. "The implications [of the latest CPI ratings] are dire for the country," Andrew Nongogo, TI-Z's executive director, told IRIN. "It should be understood right from the start that Transparency International's index is based on perceptions of business people. As a result, there will be a big knock on investor confidence, and following from that will be reduced investment levels in the country, because business people want to put their money where they are sure it will yield results." He cited the fast-track land allocation programme, which started in 2000, as one of the reasons why perceptions were so negative, saying the government had shown the world it had no respect for private property rights. Under the reforms, criticised for being lawless and politically manipulated, about 4,000 commercial white farmers were forced off their estates to make way for thousands of land-hungry black Zimbabweans. Nongogo noted that corruption was rampant in both the private and public sectors, but that perceptions about graft mostly related to how public office was used for personal enrichment. "The knock-on effect is larger in the public sector. Lost income has to be recovered somehow, and the tendency is to pass the buck over to the taxpayer. The higher the level of corruption, the greater the need to increase taxes. This is unlike in the private sector, where the prejudice is mostly limited to the corporate establishment," he said. An economic analyst, speaking on condition of anonymity, told IRIN: "Whereas in the private sector culprits can be dealt with in a more or less transparent manner, the story is different in the public domain. Considering that most of the culprits in the latter sector are influential figures with political clout, the police's powers tend to be limited." He cited the case of police inaction when formerly white-owned farms were illegally invaded, especially when top government officials were allegedly involved in occupying the land and seizing farm equipment. Two government-sanctioned land audits have found that some government ministers, senior police officers, provincial governors and President Robert Mugabe's own relatives have acquired more than one farm, contrary to stated government policy, in the land redistribution exercise. Although Mugabe has publicly ordered the culprits to relinquish the extra farms, in some cases his call has reportedly not been heeded. Critics charge that the government lacks the will to stem corruption. An anti-corruption commission is provided for by section 108A of the constitution, but the relevant government authorities have been accused of dragging their feet in establishing a law that would regulate the commission. In March, a former cabinet minister and influential ruling ZANU-PF legislator, Eddison Zvobgo, introduced a parliamentary motion for the establishment of the commission. Despite its backing by Mugabe and Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa, no debate has yet taken place on the motion. "There is need to establish an anti-corruption commission as a matter of urgency. The commission would be used to fight corruption, abuse of power, theft and misappropriation, and other improprieties in both the public and private sectors," said Nongogo. He added that the commission should carry out investigations on its own initiative. "In addition, there is need for the commission to have a high degree of independence. Commissioners need not be appointed by the president, as is the case with most commissions. "The commission should report to parliament and measures ought to be put in place to make sure that the attorney-general's office does not interfere with its operations," Nongogo said. He also recommended that the commission should have its own vote in the national budget, as a way of ensuring its independence. In addition to setting up a commission, TI-Z has called for a "whistleblower's" fund. "The rationale of setting up the fund is to alleviate the fear of blowing the whistle. This is the fear of recrimination, loss of one's job and loss of income," said the organisation. The government and ZANU-PF have, however, dismissed TI's report, saying the organisation was working closely with Britain and the United States to tarnish the image of the country. Phillip Chiyangwa, former head of an anti-corruption taskforce working under the government- controlled National Economic Consultative Forum, and a ZANU-PF member of parliament, questioned how TI had come up with its rankings. "Transparency International's ratings should be dismissed with the contempt they deserve. How do they rate the countries they would have sampled? Is it not a mere case of perception, and if it is so, who is barred from forming perceptions? Obviously, the people who conducted the survey have never been to Zimbabwe," said Chiyangwa. "Zimbabweans are more respectful of the law than most of the countries that were surveyed by Transparency International, and one tends to wonder why we should continue being bastardised by partisan organisations such as TI," he noted, adding that TI-Z put too much emphasis on public corruption, ignoring sleaze in the private sector.