PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa should be wary of dirty and corrupt investors who come into the country under the guise of exploring business opportunities, a top diplomat has warned.
BY TAFADZWA MUTACHA
Speaking during the commemoration of Africa Anti-Corruption Day in Harare yesterday, Democratic Republic of Congo Ambassador to Zimbabwe and dean of the diplomatic corps, Mawampanga Mwana Nanga, said not all investors had good intentions, as some of them were dodgy.
“As we speak today, the mantra of President Mnangagwa (Zimbabwe is open for business), I do applaud that, but when you open your country for business, you also open it for corruption,” Mwana Nanga said.
“I do have a word of caution to President Mnangagwa, Zimbabwe open for business is a good thing, but the fight for corruption is not a one-time thing. It’s a process and we have to be visionary everyday. We cannot do without investors, but we have to be cautious as to whom we do our business with.”
Mwana Nanga said colonial legislation that breeds and promotes corrupt activities within African countries should be repealed.
He said corruption was a cancer responsible for Africa’s stunted economic growth.
The DRC diplomat said former President Robert Mugabe wanted investors to do business in Zimbabwe, but his Cabinet ministers always brought corrupt and dirty businessmen he did not like.
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“When I was Minister of Finance, we had a meeting with former President Robert Mugabe in Lubumbashi. He said to me, ‘We have to invest, but every time I send my ministers to look for investors, they bring to me people who are very dirty and corrupt and I do not like them,’” he said.
Various stakeholders, among them security chiefs, civic groups, Office of the President, academia, diplomats and the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission, participated at the event meant to find lasting solutions in the fight against graft.
Mnangagwa’s government claims that the country has attracted billions of dollars worth of investment since he took over from Mugabe in November last year.
