Harare, (New Ziana) – It is everyone’s duty to help stamp out corruption to enable the country to achieve its national goal of attaining an upper middle income economy status by 2030, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister, Dr Jenfan Muswere said on Friday.

Speaking at a media awards ceremony of the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) in Harare, he said corruption was a cancer that, among other things, stunted the growth of the economy, and destroyed many institutions – both in the public and private sectors.

He said to fight graft effectively required the collaborative involvement of everyone, and adoption of deterrent legal instruments, an area government was seized with at the moment.

Dr Muswere said government was committed to fighting corruption as underlined by a raft of laws it had adopted, and some still in the pipeline, targeting the vice such as the Witness Protection Bill, and another to safeguard the interests of whistleblowers.

A government anti-corruption intervention already in effect, he said, was an integrated electronic case management system which tracks, and speeds up court cases.

“Some of the interventions (from government) are still work in progress which include the Witness Protection Bill, (and) the Whistleblower legislation which is still being developed. At the same time, the operational intervention include the integrated electronic case management system,” he said.

He noted gaps still existed on the legislative front in the fight against graft, and said these will be closed with the involvement of all  stakeholders.

Dr Muswere called for the full capacitation of Zaac to enable the  commission to tackle corruption more effectively, and rid the country of the scourge.

New Ziana