Gweru (The Times-New Ziana) -Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe has warned personnel under his Ministry against corruption, saying the long arm of the law will soon catch up with those engaging in the vice.

He was addressing workers under the departments of Immigration and Registrar General in the Midlands capital after touring their facilities.

Kazembe said citizens throughout the country were complaining about corruption, particularly in the issuance of passports.

“There is no smoke without fire. People are accusing us of being corrupt,” he said.

“Obviously there is an element of truth in that. We are yet to lay our hands on the culprits but definitely people cannot talk of something that does not exist, especially if it is coming from all corners of Zimbabwe.

“Everywhere people are complaining and I am asking you to be responsible citizens of Zimbabwe.

“Corruption kills our economy and I am warning those involved that the long arm of the law will soon catch up with you. This is the time to stop it, I am kindly asking you to desist from corrupt activities.

“It could be one or two people, but they tarnish all of us,” he said.

He gave an example of workers in the passport office who were creating non-existent challenges so that they capitalise on desperate citizens.

Kazembe said his Ministry was currently investigating the alleged cases of corruption and appealed to members of the public to report any cases they would have detected so that they speed up arrests.

“We have a collective responsibility to stop corruption and not reporting such cases makes one an accessory to it.”

He said the country’s vision 2030 posed several policy and implementation obligations and commitments on the part of business, labour and other stakeholders.

“These include a Zimbabwe that is open for business, modernising systems of public administration and management of the economy, a citizen centric government, an improved business and investment climate and zero tolerance to corruption.

“We need to modernise our systems so that we can improve our service delivery to the people,” he said.

Kazembe said despite resource constraints, government policies should be implemented so that the national vision was attained.

“We should strive to be a result oriented Ministry whose results can only be attained by building a culture of achieving them even against all odds, and this calls for dedication, commitment and to a greater extent patriotism,” he said.

He access to documents was a human right and the civil registration department should work towards easy access to them.

The passport office, he said, should work towards clearing the between 350 000 to 400 000 backlog in the country.

On the Immigration department, Kazembe said it was the reception of the country and should give a good account of the country.

Midlands Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Larry Mavima said the visit by Kazembe should see a positive change towards production so that the departments were able to provide efficient services to the people.

Kazembe is on a countrywide tour of departments under his Ministry to appreciates challenges that they face to enable the government to intervene.
The Times-New Ziana