About an hour before President Robert Mugabe addressed the sixth session of Parliament on Tuesday morning his Deputy Information Minister, Bright Matonga, was already in police cells facing corruption charges.
Around noon Mugabe spoke about corruption. ”Another regrettable development is the incidence of cases of corruption,” he told both lower and upper house members in Parliament. ”Government will not hesitate to invoke the full force of the law against those perpetrating this vice, regardless of their social status and political affiliation,” he went on.
A senior police officer told the Mail & Guardian that Matonga’s former local government boss, Ignatius Chombo, could be locked up on the same charges, but they were ”waiting for instructions”.
Until this week’s arrest Mugabe has rarely acted on crucial information implicating his Cabinet ministers in shady deals. Addressing his ruling Zanu-PF party central committee meeting two weeks back Mugabe said he was aware that ministers were involved in illicit gold-smuggling activities. No names were mentioned and there is no ”known investigation going on”.
”We have the names of the big fish, but we need instructions first,” the senior office said. ”The National Economic Conduct Inspectorate provided us with the names and we know the president was provided the information through the Attorney General, but certain political decisions have to be made first before we act.”
For now it’s the small fish being fried. ”Mugabe is in a dilemma. He will be left with no one in his Cabinet or politburo should he act on every information he gets,” says Professor Eldred Masunungure of the University of Zimbabwe political science department. ”There is a degree to which he can go, there are obvious political limitations, he will pick the small fish and that will serve as a deterrent to the bigger fish.”
But Mugabe was charging like two bulls at the Central Committee meeting. ”Cases of members wanting to enrich themselves are increasing in number. You are not being fair … some people are just being crookish,” Mugabe said, threatening that he would be ”cleansing” his Central Committee.
But party insiders and senior police officers concur that Mugabe had all the information earlier, but took time to act. ”Some were reprimanded — his close confidants,” the insider told the M&G. Among them were multiple farm owners and gold and foreign currency dealers in ”his politburo and Cabinet”.
”Maybe Mugabe feels that bringing some of his old comrades before the courts will leave them with no honour and dignity,” says Masunungure. ”Those that are likely to go are small fish.”
Even Zanu-PF-aligned liberation war veterans’ association national chairperson Jabulani Sibanda is fuming. ”It’s like he [Mugabe] has been away for a long time and only discovered corruption today,” he said.
The M&G is reliably informed that Mugabe is aware of corrupt activities — involving Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo and Deputy Minister Matonga — within the Ministry of Local Government in which tenders for the supply of buses were manipulated. So far only Matonga, who was CEO of the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company before he became a deputy minister, has been charged.
But what is irking his senior party members, particularly Secretary for Information Dr Nathan Shamuyarira, and Vice-Presidents Joseph Msika and Joyce Mujuru, is that no serious action was being taken.
”They have become accustomed to Mugabe firing warning shots, but deep down they know he won’t act and nobody will resign,” the insider said.
Sibanda told the M&G that, as an association, the war veterans ”expected to hear results not rhetoric. The people of Zimbabwe elected Mugabe to oversee that everybody complies with the rule of law,” he said.
Deputy Trade Minister Phineas Chihota forced a Harare woman, Sarudzayi Nhundu, to sell her house in Harare’s posh Borrowdale suburb at below market value rates and, in return, Chihota promised to use his influence to issue her with sugar, fuel import and export licences.
Mugabe revealed the scandal two weeks ago at a Zanu-PF central committee meeting, but a week down the line Chihota still has his job.
There is another hot potato Mugabe wouldn’t want to touch: seven of his top government officials, including ministers, were recently exposed by the M&G for looting farming equipment at prime horticultural concern Kondozi in the eastern Manicaland province and are still to be charged.
But it was the same old story, according to the insider. ”Mugabe was fully briefed by Mujuru, he expressed concern, but hasn’t acted.”