Corruption
ZIG Watch : Issue 7
Sokwanele Article: August 4th, 2009
Future and potential by-elections 
The waves of democratic turmoil washed over from June to July with scores of breaches of the GPA being recorded, the majority of which fell into the following categories:
- wanton politically motivated violence, or violence driven by politicians,
- harassment, and deprivation of freedom, of individuals through contrived arrests on spurious charges,
- widespread corruption involving senior public and uniformed figures,
- the deprivation of the right to Freedom of Expression, and the abuse thereof,
- violent, unconstitutional, invasions and seizures of property and farms, and
- deliberate attempts to derail the Constitution-making process.
The month began with a group of journalists returning to court in an effort to make former High Court rulings ‘legally binding’ – calling attention to ZANU PF breaches of GPA articles covering both the rule of law and freedom of expression. The journalists had been barred from covering the COMESA summit on the grounds that they were not accredited by the Media and Information Commission (MIC). This was despite a High Court ruling in June that made it clear that the MIC was defunct, and that journalists were not required to register with it. 
Party breaches against Article 19 - click to enlarge
ZISCO: The cost of Zimbabwe's kleptocracy
Sokwanele Article: December 14th, 2006Day by day, we count the cost of this kleptocracy that rules our nation: we count it in terms of the bodies of those who die silently week by week of Aids, malnutrition and poverty; in terms of the disruption of family life, and the misery of the millions of economic refugees; in terms of the desecration of the environment; and, as here, in terms of the cost to the economy brought about by the plunder of national assets. What will be left once this evil is at an end, and the culprits are finally brought to book?
With no real democratic institutions in existence, and no law enforcement, there is no culture of accountability, which leaves the ruling elite free to loot and plunder as they please. When their heinous crimes do come to light, instead of heads rolling, and the government falling into disgrace - as would happen in a working democracy - the rulers treat those over whom they rule with utter contempt, of which the refusal to answer to parliament is a symptom. Without accountability, those in power simply decide amongst themselves what path to take in the latest and largest incidence of national fraud - some are even using it to further their own political agendas!
Fifth day of Christmas: The Great Food Robbery
Sokwanele Article: December 30th, 2004The ultimate, overarching corrupt act by the individuals who govern this country is to use their political power to deprive Zimbabweans of their right to access food. It is a calculated evil, cynically done in full knowledge of the consequences for those who will suffer and die. But within this over-arching corruption of policy there exist many petty, private acts of corruption intended to benefit not ZANU PF, but the individuals who perform them.
Wherever there is an inadequate supply of any essential product, there will always be those prepared to take advantage of other people's needs. This now occurs in Zimbabwe with such sickening frequency, at every stage of the process of securing the food supply, that one wonders if there is any morality remaining in the country.
