Thread by @OpenParlyZw

SENATOR MORGEN KOMICHI: REPORT ON FIGHTING CORRUPTION & RESTORING TRUST IN GOVT

HON. SEN. KOMICHI: I would like to thank Senator Muzenda for raising this important motion on corruption. It is true that corruption destroys people. #OpenCovidContracts

HON. KOMICHI: One or two people may be involved in this corruption but the effect to the whole country is that its very destructive especially in Govt. The Min of Finance disburses funds for example to roads then that money does not get there but is squandered by 2 or 3 people.

HON. KOMICHI: If we look at the state of the roads right now, it is killing the citizenry. Corruption goes all the way. We hear right now in some country the President fired his Minister because he squandered covid funds.

HON. KOMICHI: What it means is some citizens died because the money that was supposed to be used to save them did not get there. So corruption is very bad. It should be reined in through strong legislation. There should be very strong laws.

HON. KOMICHI: Yes indeed, in this country right now, we see there is an Anti-Corruption Commission.

HON. KOMICHI:Those institutions must be empowered to ensure that they are effective but Govt can only be measured on how strong it is in fighting corruption through the strength of its institutions such as Anti-Corruption Commission, the police force, the courts and the judiciary

HON. KOMICHI: They must be empowered with undiluted powers because if they do not get enough power, they may be threatened by other officials like Hon. Komichi. If my relative engages in corruption, I call the police and my relative is released.

HON. KOMICHI: We should be cautious as a people that institutions must be strengthened. If they are strengthened, we will discover that they will work effectively in reducing corruption.

HON. KOMICHI: The statistics that we hear where money is embezzled through corruption amounts to millions of dollars. According to some who have researched, they say even sanctions have not destroyed economy or consumed money more than what has been lost through corruption.

HON. KOMICHI: We should all unite to fight corruption as Zimbabweans.We may fail to get investors because of corruption. In this country, there are some areas where investors ended up not coming because they were asked to pay 10% of a figure even up to the tune of $100m

HON. KOMICHI: The business person then wonders; if he has to pay 10% before starting work, where can he get the money to invest? This happens in Zimbabwe. There are a lot of projects that did not take off because of corruption.

HON. KOMICHI: The scourge of corruption should be looked into seriously. We should never defend ourselves when it comes to corruption. Even in indexes, we realise that people squander Government money as if they are eating aphrodisiacs.

HON. KOMICHI: We encourage the Govt to work strongly to stop corruption and it should never be selective according to denomination, whether it is Zion or Roman Catholic. Government should be transparent and fight corruption head-on and take corruption as an enemy.

HON. KOMICHI: If this issue is handled properly, this country can succeed. That is why we realise that a country may have been number five but now number one.

HON. KOMICHI: It may be number 80 but now number 20 because there will be programmes and institutions that are put in place to fight corruption to reduce the index. Since this issue has been talked about, indeed the whole world is mourning about corruption.

HON.KOMICHI: The efforts to stop corruption must come through strong legislation. In conclusion, the @ZACConline should be empowered enough to do its job. The @PoliceZimbabwe should be empowered to do its job. As civil servants, we must stop corruption and work honestly.