Zimbabwe: Selective De-corruption Campaign

Following the arrest of a number of key figures for corruption related charges, Zimbabwe’s ZANU PF is apparently infatuated with a so-called campaign against corruption. This comes in the wake of a demand by delegates at the late December 2003 ZANU PF Congress that officialdom deals with corruption threatening to bring the country to a standstill. A move to pacify congress attendees resulted in a number of low-key arrests in the post-congress period, culminating in the high-note incarceration of Philip Chiyangwa. Chinyangwa is the Mashonaland West Provincial Chairman and MP for ZANU PF. The arrest of Chiyangwa, the circumstances surrounding it as well as the attempt by ZANU PF to gain political mileage from it are fully consistent with ZANU PF’s self-gratification, deliberate confusion of issues, and propensity to give the people a raw deal, says this commentary.