Zimbabwe and Corruption
Hi Delegates! The second topic for the African Union is combating political corruption. I’m going to use Zimbabwe as a case study for how political corruption has taken shape in Africa. The Corruption Perceptions Index marks Zimbabwe a 2.0 on a scale from 0 (very corrupt) to 10 (very clean). You can see which branches of government are most corrupt in the Zimbabwe Corruption Report. To see your own countries report, just scroll over Resources at the top of the webpage and click Country Profiles! Unfortunately, there is not a Corruption Report for every African country, but I encourage you to check out other African countries anyway.
In Zimbabwe, corruption is highest in the political and public sector. Politically, Zimbabwe, like many African countries suffered from prolonged leadership. Robert Mugabe served as Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister from 1980 to 1987 and served as the President from 1987 to 2017. Although certain benefits were seen under Mugabe’s rule such as improvements in education, there was widespread corruption. During the 2008 elections, Mugabe systematically used violence against opposing individuals and was only removed from office in 2017 when he fired his vice president, potentially to reinstall his thirty year junior wife as the new vice president.
In the public sector, police are known for shaking down tourists for money or accepting bribes from civilians. It is said that at least 1 billion dollars was lost due to police and local government indiscretion. Economic ramifications like this are a key reason to tackle political corruption and prevent future financial loss. Luckily, to combat this image Zimbabwe has started to fire policemen and the current president, Emmerson Mnangagwa is enforcing a zero tolerance policy against government corruption. He has said that reforms will be launched early this year! Look out in the news for any updates to see whether or not he delivers on his promise.
Zimbabwe, being a heavily underdeveloped country, is prone to such defects within their political and economic standpoints. Their political attributions are seen as a precedent for what the international community “should not do”. But considering their degrading population, the African Union has taken the prominent issues of the country in the direction to resolve the current situation. Zimbabwe is seen with high levels of active and passive bribery and facilitating payments within both the private and public sectors. However, despite the maximum punishment of 20 years, higher officials are able to use their misleading power as a mode of prevention rather than safeguard the principles of a full presidential republic. With overbearing executive power being enacted and the anti-reliance to their parliament and legislative power, corruption is seen as this country and continues to expand drastically. Egypt, being a strongholder to anti-corruption measures, holds immense opposition to the influence of power in political and economic decisions. From Emmerson Mnangagwa to smaller officials, their ability to counteract political disparities holds to be the leading cause of such issues. As a result, Egypt believes that there is a dire need of reform, not only for Zimbabwe, but for the entire African Union which faces similar issues in regards to corruption within the public sector.
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