The anti-corruption pledge served as the bait in the electoral ploy by the dramatically failing, illegitimate Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU PF). A promise sold to an electorate it assumed to be out of touch with reality, thereby representing a tragically underwhelming masquerade of genuine concern for the people.
During his exile, the current unendorsed president, having found himself in the surprising predicament of fearing for his life, pledged to return and rectify the mounting issues, including corruption. It was a premise embraced by the military, notorious for human rights abuses and suffering impoverishment within its rank and file. The military coup that ensued toppled the long-time dictator, Mugabe, fostering hope among the long-oppressed masses. They saw a promise of change, oblivious to the imminent treachery.
The revelations that followed painted the president as the very embodiment of corruption. His close kin and appointees found themselves implicated in various large-scale corruption scandals, shattering any illusions of a fresh, transformative leadership.
To the politically vigilant and enlightened, the promise to eradicate corruption was akin to setting fire to a grass-thatched house from the inside – it was self-destructive, paradoxical, and inexplicable if done deliberately. It was particularly nonsensical for a leader who was the primary beneficiary of the pillage and destruction that left the country in a paralytic state. Such actions paved the way for potential state collapse and regional destabilisation, plunging the area into chaos.
The oppressed masses, long subjected to the harsh realities of the failing, tyrannical, and illegitimate ZANU PF regime, were the ones bearing the brunt of this political charade. They experienced the wholesale neglect of their welfare by a government obsessed with self-enrichment, violating the supreme laws of the land, and leaving public service delivery in ruins.
The people were encouraged to question, to seek political enlightenment. Why would a figure, who had been an integral part of several illegitimate ZANU PF cabinets, suddenly take a stand against the pervasive corruption? This newfound moral compass seemed questionable, especially given the potential risk to his power and access to the country’s finite fiscal and non-renewable resources for personal gain.
The scam, tragically, hit the oppressed and neglected masses hardest. These victims of the grossly failing, terrorizing ZANU PF government were left to bear the consequences of a leadership consumed with self-enrichment, violating constitutional laws, and depriving them of basic services.
The stark reality, therefore, is that ZANU PF’s electoral promise to fight corruption was little more than an illusion. A hollow promise, aimed at appeasing a terrorised population, that has not just been unfulfilled, but shattered by the very same individuals who vowed to combat it.