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Opposition activists at the weekend poured scorn on last week's
constitutional amendment establishing a nine-member anti-corruption commission, dismissing it as "a circus", media reports said.
Human rights lawyer and activist, Tendai Biti said: "It's a circus. It will be a useless body that is going to suffer from selective amnesia. We should create an independent body whose members should be appointed without being subjected to the political whims of President Mugabe."
According to the amendment, the anti-corruption commission will consist of at least four and not more than nine members appointed by Mugabe. The commission will have the function of combating corruption, theft, misappropriation, abuse of power and other improprieties in the conduct of affairs in both public and private sectors.
The amendment is a sequel to the latest government attempts to stem official corruption. At least two government ministers have been implicated in corrupt practices, leading to the arrest and pressing of charges against one of them, Lands and Agriculture Minister Kumbirai Kangai.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions