HARARE – President Emmerson Mnangagwa has reluctantly acknowledged the rot festering in his own party, conceding that ZANU–PF’s addiction to corruption has reached alarming levels and threatens to finally strip the party of any remaining public credibility.
Addressing the politburo in Harare, Mnangagwa warned that the graft and brazen looting—much of it linked to his so-called Presidential Empowerment Schemes—has become “second to none” and risks permanently alienating ordinary Zimbabweans.
“Corruption of any kind and excesses that alienate us from the people can never be condoned,” he said, insisting that integrity and discipline must define ZANU–PF. Yet critics note that similar promises over decades have yielded little beyond empty slogans while party elites grow richer.
Mnangagwa urged party structures to report “success stories” from empowerment programmes, but the schemes themselves have been mired in scandal. Beneficiaries complain of senior officials demanding kickbacks of up to 10 percent, with ED-aligned organisations accused of bribe-taking and manipulating tenders from the national to provincial levels.
Observers say the president’s words amount to damage control as frustration with ZANU–PF’s entrenched patronage system deepens across the country. Opposition figures argue that only a genuine political transition and robust oversight—not polite speeches—can end the culture of impunity that has defined the ruling party for over four decades.
Despite boasting of foreign engagements with China, the Vatican and Eswatini, Mnangagwa offered no concrete plan to root out the corruption he now publicly laments. Civil society groups warn that without decisive, transparent action, the scandals around the Presidential Revolving Funds will further tarnish Zimbabwe’s image regionally and internationally—and hasten ZANU–PF’s loss of legitimacy at home.
Source: Byo24News
