Moyo blames generals for salarygate

Politics
Gorden Moyo said the government would fail to deal with corruption bedevilling State entities because it fears the military that runs them and shields the ruling Zanu PF party.

MDC Bulawayo provincial chairperson and former State Enterprises and Parastatals minister Gorden Moyo yesterday said the government would fail to deal with corruption bedevilling State entities because it fears the military that runs them and shields the ruling Zanu PF party.

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Moyo was speaking at a public policy dialogue to deliberate on the challenges besetting parastatals and how civil society can play a more effective watchdog role in the sector.

The meeting was organised by the Public Policy Research Institute of Zimbabwe, a think tank organisation based in Bulawayo, in collaboration with Bulawayo Agenda, Bulawayo Progressive Residents’ Association (BPRA) and the National Youth Development Trust (NYDT).

Moyo said corruption in State entities had been institutionalised since 1980 and military personnel were deliberately and strategically deployed to oversee their operations as a way of milking them to raise funds for Zanu PF.

Former senior security personnel have been deployed to take charge of key institutions and parastatals and the result has been widespread mismanagement, corruption and bankruptcy.

“We will have a lot of hullabaloo about this salarygate and corruption, but very little will happen. They (Zanu PF-led government) are held hostage by the military,” Moyo said.

“They cannot slash their salaries. I actually feel pity for my colleagues.

“It is not easy for them to deal with the problem within parastatals.

“The military is heavily involved in all sectors, including the informal sector,” he said.

“This is a big problem and the problem is that the current government over the years lost its legitimacy and the military saved it from downfall.

“The government is forever indebted to the military.”

Moyo said the military was running Zimbabwe and there was nothing ministers or President Robert Mugabe can do.

“These are the facts; this is the truth and I experienced it. The real power in this country rests with the military,” he said.

Moyo said Mugabe’s dilemma was worsened by factional politics within his party making it impossible to deal with corruption even if he wished as he had to do a balancing act to avoid antagonising the factions.

The military is credited with masterminding the 2008 presidential run-off campaign that forced MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who had won the first round of balloting, to pull out citing widespread violence.