HOME Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Cain Mathema
has said there will be no sacred cows in the fight against corruption and even
Cabinet Ministers found on the wrong side of the law will be arrested.
The Minister said Government is intolerant of corruption
and will arrest anyone involved in destroying the country’s economy.
Minister Mathema said this in Bulawayo yesterday after
taking part in the provincial clean-up exercise in areas around Ross Camp and
at Ross Camp Police Station.
Bulawayo Provincial Affairs Minister, Cde Judith Ncube, the
Officer Commanding Bulawayo Commissioner Bernard Dumbura, members of the Joint
Operations Command (JOC), police officers and officials’ from the Environmental
Management Agency, the Bulawayo City Council and the private sector took part
in the exercise.
Minister Mathema said even Ministers or chief executives of
private companies found to be corrupt will be arrested.
“If you look at the papers, a lot of people are being
arrested on corruption charges every week. This is done by police and other
systems, the Anti-Corruption Commission; people are appearing in courts. We are
doing all we can to fight corruption as the New Dispensation. Nobody should
earn what they didn’t work for. I’m a Minister
and as Minister it’s easy for me to use my position in order to access
what I’m not supposed to have. Whether I’m a Minister or chief executive, if
I’m found to be corrupt the law has to take its course. Corruption is not only
in Government but it is right across the spectrum even in the private sector,”
said Minister Mathema.
He said no one will be spared in the fight against
corruption.
“As you push your broom (clean up) it should also click in
your mind that this is how we want to clean corruption. We need to remove
corruption because corruption makes our country dirty and makes other people
fail to achieve what they want to achieve. So let us all be clean and smart and
all our streets must be clean,” said Minister Mathema.
He said as scores of people and organisations take to the
streets on the first Friday of every month to embark on the national clean-up
exercise, the same attitude should be employed in fighting corruption.
Meanwhile, in Matabeleland South, Women Affairs, Community,
Small and Medium Enterprises Development Minister Dr Sithembiso Nyoni took part
in the clean-up campaign at Esigodini Central Business District.
Umzingwane Member of Parliament Cde, Levi Mayihlome, civil
servants, council officials among others took part in the exercise.
Dr Nyoni challenged communities not to take for granted the
clean-up campaign exercise which has become prominent on the nation’s calendar.
She assured the public that Government was alive to
problems they are facing as result of unjustified price hikes.
Dr Nyoni said Government was setting up silo shops which
would be providing cheaper products to cushion the public from unscrupulous
business practices.
She also visited several community projects where she
challenged members to be proactive and ensure that they succeed as Government
is willing to support their initiatives.
In Hwange and Victoria Falls, for the first time since the
launch of the campaign last year, scores of residents joined in the clean-up.
In Victoria Falls the highlight of the day was when the municipality paraded a
new refuse truck it acquired from South Africa recently. The truck drove around
all the 12 wards in the resort town collecting garbage and at the same time
being paraded to residents who had joined their councillors and municipal staff
to clean their respective wards. Previously, the clean-up was dominated by
government workers.
In Hwange, TelOne donated 10 refuse bins and 100 trees to Hwange
Local Board as part of efforts to keep the environment clean. Some of those who
took part in the clean-up were from the ZRP, Zimbabwe National Army, District
Administrator’s Office, President’s Office, Environmental Management Agency,
Registrar General’s Office, JSC, NPA, and others.
Similar exercises were carried out across Matabeleland
North province.
In the Midlands province, clean up campaigns took place in
Kwekwe, Zvishavane, Gokwe, Shurugwi and Gweru where Government departments led
by the Environmental Management Agency and local authorities took to the
streets and shopping centres for the worthy exercise.
Midlands Provincial Affairs Minister Larry Mavima and the
Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Ziyambi Ziyambi led the
clean-up exercise at Kudzanayi Bus Terminus in Gweru amid calls to embrace a
culture of cleanliness. “I am pleased to note that Gweru residents are
continually improving on their management of waste by placing litter in the
bins. That way we can avoid diseases such as typhoid and cholera. As you all
know our city was once hit by a typhoid outbreak therefore I urge you all to
continue cleaning your work spaces on a daily basis,” said the Minister.
In Masvingo, the Provincial Affairs Minister, Ezra
Chadzamira, led other government departments to clean-up Rutenga Business
Centre in Mwenezi.
He urged the business community to inculcate a culture of
cleanliness within their premises in line with President Mnangagwa’s call for a
clean nation. Chronicle
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