He said the high level of corruption prevalent in the public and private sectors had adverse effects on investor confidence and the country’s economic performance.
Speaking on the sidelines of a Transparency International Zimbabwe consultative meeting held in Harare recently to launch a Youth and Corruption baseline survey, Njerere said the prevalence of institutionalized corruption made it very difficult to fight corruption.
“The majority of citizens have adopted corruption and view it as the normal way of doing things. Citizens’ lack of information concerning their rights increases the levels of corruption in Zimbabwe because people end up bribing for goods and services they are supposed to get for free,” he said.
He cited birth and identity documents registration processes as an example. Njerere told The Zimbabwean that an analysis of the country’s corruption index would reveal that Zimbabwe had not achieved much in its effort to fight the scourge of corruption.
“Youth participation in reducing corruption is limited and unless the government and private players come up with innovative ways to reach out to our young people, the country is set to plunge into an even deeper crisis,” he said.
Zimbabwe is ranked 163 out of a total of 176 countries globally according to the latest TI- Z corruption perception index.
The index, which ranks countries and territories based on how corrupt their public sector is suggested that the country’s corruption record is worsening since it dropped nine places on the index since last year.
TI- Z research officer, Farai Mutondoro, expressed concern at the limited involvement of youths in government bodies tasked with tackling corruption.
“The irony of it is that there is no young person in the Anti-corruption commission.
Sector targeted initiatives, especially in the education sector, can help curb corruption levels in the country,” said Mutondoro.
Coalition Against Corruption Founder, Terry Mutsvanga, said there was no political will from leaders to fight corruption. He suggested that failure to act on corrupt citizens and institutions could be a reflection that ‘the politicians were the most corrupt’.
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