US$ 1 trillion lost to corruption

By Yolanda Muswere and Vanessa Mhizha

Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission Chairperson Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo said Africa has lost over US$1 trillion over the past 50 years in Africa due to corruption.

Speaking at the Africa anti-corruption commemoration day running under the theme ‘towards a common African position on asset recovery’ Matanda-Moyo said Africa has taken huge strides in combating the scourge of corruption.

“We join Africa in the commemoration of Africa Anti-Corruption Day and Africa has taken a serious stance in combating corruption having realized the economic ruin caused by such vices”

“It’s corrosiveness effects reverse hard earned development gain, threatens progress, stability and development of the continent,” she added.

Citing The Mbeki report Matanda-Moyo revealed the deep levels of poverty and the amount of funds lost annually due to corruption in the continent.

“…roughly 400million Africans live on less than US$1.25 per day while US$50 billion is misappropriated annually from the continent,” she said.

She highlighted that corruption disproportionately affects the most vulnerable as critical resources are diverted away from public services such as education and health.

“Misappropriated funds accounts for a 25% loss of development resources in Africa as a result individuals and families are the most affected, this money could have been used to invest in areas where resources are needed the most for instance, health sector ,education sector and job creation,” she said

Harare City Council acting Mayor, Ian Makone emphasized that most corruption cases come from whistleblowers that help in the prosecution of the perpetrators but they lack protection rights.

“We look forward to successful prosecution as higher as you can go because it is easy to deal with a smaller fish, but they are invariably having protection

“The consensus which exists in the country today will be enhanced and we  even get more whistleblowers,” he said.

The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission is mandated to carry out investigations that will expose cases in the public and private sectors. It also combats corruption, theft, misappropriation of funds, abuse of power and improper conduct in the public and private sectors.