By Chigumbu Warikandwa
If there is anything lacking in Zimbabwe, it is motivation to do good. Rather, there appears to be hidden motivators to do bad. A society that does not reward its outstanding citizens runs the risk of rotting away into mediocrity.
Zimbabwe's highest honours on the land is the National Hero(ine) status, an honour granted posthumously alone. This means Zimbabwe has zero living heroes. It has dead heroes only. Nobody in Zimbabwe knows that he is a hero since those who are eventually conferred will only have their corpses showered with the last minute grave-side praises, accolades the living hero-to-be never enjoyed.
Lest, I digress, this is no heroes-acre politics. This paper seeks to draw the reader's attention to the fight against corruption. Despite punitive laws, the corruption scourge appears to be strengthening, meaning the corruption fighting mechanisms are not effective to the need at hand. Thinking outside the book is of utmost need at this stage.
We rebound to heroes. Would it hurt the country to have some national hero awards to persons identified to have indistinguishably fought corruption? These need to be given their honours the next minute they are adjudged to be deserving. No need to wait for their inevitable deaths. Such lifetime awards motivate more people to want to be included on that list. If there is anything mankind loves, it is prestige. The British Monarch knights its outstanding citizens with various titles. In local authority lingo, long-serving councillors are awarded the Alderman status.
Assuming the next government housing scheme is to be named after the biggest fighter of corruption, that individual would have been empowered further to fight corruption harder. The same person would not want his decorated name to be soiled in corruption or other nefarious engagements. So, clearly, this is a cheap and affordable way of cultivating people of goodwill to the nation.
It is not in dispute that some people do not value being praised. Therefore, despite designing these accolades, it remains necessary to put in place mechanisms that scare away potential mischief-makers. These deterrents are currently lacking and the need to have them is a pure national emergency.
Lately, the rewards of corruption are too tempting not to try indulging yet the punishment is too little not to dare it. Beneficiaries of corruption earn themselves undeserved respect in families, churches and the society at large where their opinions however mediocre carry uncontested endorsement. This culture has to be deconstructed. The absence of efforts to deconstruct this sick attitude has potential to creep deeper into the national culture to an extent that those fighting corruption would be labelled public enemy number one. In a normal society, which we are lacking, the opposite should be true.
I would therefore suggest that there be permanent markers on persons identified to be corrupt. Such markers must be made visible to the public and they must be publicized so that the average person knows that here comes a corrupt individual. For example, any person convicted of corruption may be considered for a red national ID. Or, she or he may be given a circular or much bigger ID or passport. An A6-sized national ID would be enough shame to carry around for life. The same person must be issued such an ID the day he is sent to prison and must continue with it the day he is released. Children of corrupt parents must know that their parents are corrupt, so must their relatives. It doesn’t pay to squander public goodwill for nothing. Goodwill is an expensive commodity that cannot be wasted on criminals.
Self-proclaimed captains of human rights may stand up to attack such moves as violations to human rights, but my defence would be that corruption is a much more gross violation of human rights of more people than the rights of this private solitary individual. In any event, any person who disregards the rights of others is not worthy of his. The law has the instruments where people unworthy of their rights are deprived of theirs.
In more cases, corrupt people indulge in acts that may disadvantage others for life, the unborn children included. These are elements dangerous to national security and must be uprooted with urgency.
It would not be the first time either that certain signifiers are used to mark certain national distributions. If such identifiers are for the common good, let them be embraced. During the colonial era, public buildings were roof coded with different colours ranging from green, red oxide and blue. In the same manner, corrupt individuals can have their cars, houses, businesses and selves branded so they carry the shame on their shoulders for life, working as exhibits of how not to live life and being live deterrents to future trespassers. Corruption performed by people must see an effective solution to it being raised by the same people. This generation and race cannot expect solutions to their problems from aliens from Mars. Continuing to fail in this regard is a sign of tolerance of the problem.
Corruption must die. And die now it must.
