A fresh hearing has been ordered to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) towards its sacked managers Mr Gibson Mangwiro, who was the chief accountant as well as Christopher Chisango, former general manager of finance according to the Herald. The two, ZACC employees were fired after being convicted of misconduct last year’ It is a very tricky situation when those who are supposed to “combat corruption and crime” find themselves under allegations and conviction of fleecing over $430,000.
Those who are supposed to guard against corruption in the country are viewed as corrupt too making it hard for an ordinary Zimbabwean to trust such an institution. Last year in August 19 ZACC investigation officers had been suspended for alleged Corruption, Insubordination and Divulging Secrets. However, according to local news reports the officers were reinstated.
Of course ZACC is not the only guard of corruption that has been found to have corrupt officers. The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) is another organisation that has had its personnel charged with corruption.
Corruption is one of the human induced problems affecting Zimbabwe as a country. According to Reuters the country is losing a $1 billion a year to corruption. Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ) said the police, local councils, the vehicle inspection department that issues driving licenses as well as the education department were among the most corrupt institutions (Reuters). Not to mention some Police officers have been arrested over charges of corruption in the past. This article explains the effects of corruption to business institutions.
La Free and Morris book authors have defined corruption as “an abuse of public office that violates formal or informal norms, that brings direct or indirect gain to a public official, and that provides a third party with services or resource that would otherwise be more difficult or impossible to obtain.”
Linda Ray gives four effects of corruption to a business:
Corruption leads to inefficiency use of resources. Tampering or improper use of resources leads to the suffering of business efficiency. Leaking of news about corruption can also lead to the a business to lose trust among its customers and clients.
Resources are lost through illegal activities. Under qualified employees also add to the loss of resources. Funds are also embezzled through corruption. As said earlier on, Zimbabwe is losing $1 billion a year to corruption. Such a huge loss is not good for a country under a cash crisis. Companies can find themselves closing down due to corruption as a lot of money can go unaccounted for.
Development becomes difficult companies’ skepticism of doing business with corrupt officials. Whether you are seeking investment to grow your firm or you sell investments for a living, you will have a much harder time finding willing investors when bribes or in-kind favors are required, worse yet if your business has a history of corruption within its ranks.
In 2014, at least 300 police officers in Zimbabwe lost their jobs to corruption. This has made it hard for the ordinary Zimbabweans to trust the police yet alone the cost caused to the nation’s brand regarding investment, tourism and so forth.
The results of corruption in business add to the burgeoning roles of crime-fighting government agencies, police departments and internal investigators. It is important to understand that corruption is a costly habit; that it is important for one to be disciplined against this top to bottom norm as its consequences are far reaching toward the business community at large.