This is corruption

Paul Bogaert

She is desperately trying to project herself as a “caring mother of the nation”.

But the mother has serious flaws. She discriminates among her children. Only those carrying a Zanu (PF) card are fed. The goodies that the mother of the nation is distributing are not the product of her sweat, but have been sourced by the state using a loan from the government of Brazil – and the Zimbabwean taxpayers will have to pay for them sooner or later.

It is fair to surmise that the majority of Zimbabwean taxpayers are MDC-T supporters – because most taxpayers live in the urban areas, where the MDC consistently wins elections.  These taxpayers now have to pay for the last lot of tractors and farming implements that were dished out to Zanu (PF) officials masquerading as farmers by then Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono during the hyper-inflation era.

When it comes to doling out freebies, only Zanu (PF) supporters benefit. When it comes to paying for the goodies, only the taxpayers pay.  Grace Mugabe’s splurging expedition has once again exposed the lack of accountability that characterises our government.  The wife of the president has no business distributing government equipment. She is not a government official. She is not a cabinet minister. She is just the president’s wife.

This shows clearly that there is no distinction between government, party and personal property as far as Zanu (PF) is concerned. It is also quite clear from the way in which Grace is transported around the country – in military helicopters – that there are no policies governing the use of state resources. Or if there are such policies, they are ignored and flouted at will.

If Grace is on party business, as she obviously is, the party should be providing her transport and paying for the goods she is distributing to party supporters.

The abuse of government property and state resources by Zanu (PF) has been going on for so long – 35 years – that it has become systemic. The danger is that people now just accept it as “normal”. We need to keep reminding ourselves that it is wrong. It is corruption.