Zimbabwe: All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.

Zimbabweans are holding their breath as they wait for the outcome of the talks between President Jacob Zuma of SA and the three GNU principals namely Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara. In these talks the three principals are going to raise the outstanding issues in the GNU that are hindering progress, one of the major issues being the appointments of Gideon Gono and Johannes Tomana as the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor and Attorney General respectively. I have constantly blogged about how Gideon Gono in his capacity as the RBZ governor economically sabotaged the country and will continue to do so if nothing is done about his removal. I believe that what makes evil triumph is because good men don't continue to speak out against it. I am afraid that evil like no rule of law, no respect of human rights and property rights, unfair police and justice system and economic corruption and sabotage will continue to triumph in Zimbabwe if President Jacob Zuma in his capacity as the SADC chairman does not reprimand the perpetrators of such evils. It's about time that SADC shows that it has got some teeth that bite and is not just some social gathering of Southern African presidents with no significant fruits to write home about. The onus lies on President Jacob Zuma to use these talks to show the whole world that SADC is a force to reckon with.

Let me stress to you that all that is needed for evil to triumph in Zimbabwe is for the good man Jacob Zuma to do nothing about it and if he doesn't do anything about it he will start being labelled as part of the evil just like Mbeki before him. It's not only Zimbabweans who are watching closely the outcome of these talks but also South Africans and the whole world over and so under-rating the importance of these talks will put a negative dent on Zuma's political career.

Let me end this article by inserting some parts of the petition that was send to Tsvangirai recently on the 21st of July 2009 by the Anti-corruption trust of Southern Africa, concerning the firing of Gideon Gono as the RBZ governor which is one of the outstanding issues. I got it from the website www.kubatana.net on the following link.
http://www.kubatana.net/html/archive/demgg/090721actsa.asp?sector=ECON&year=0&range_start=1

Petition to investigate the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and its principle officials


Your Excellency,

We, the undersigned concerned institutions do hereby call upon your good offices, in the interest of accountability and transparency, to facilitate the setting up of an Independent Commission of Enquiry into the conduct of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) and its Principal Officials. The proposed Commission is required to fully and conclusively investigate allegations of incompetency, unprofessionalism, corruption and illicit dealings of the RBZ and its principal officials.

This request has been necessitated by a plethora of allegations that have been leveled against the RBZ by a number of stakeholders, which in our view should be investigated.

Further to a host of allegations that were leveled against the bank and its staff, we all hold the view that there was failure to comply with Section 6 of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Act Chapter 22:15.

Some specific allegations leveled against the RBZ and its officials include:-

Looting of institutional and individual bank accounts:-
The RBZ and its principal officials have been accused of looting individual and institutions bank accounts. Shining examples include: the looting of money belonging to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Africa University Public Sector Management Programme, Hivos (a Dutch development organisation) and others. In most of these cases the money was withdrawn without the consent of owners. There are many other victims who will be prepared to testify if an opportunity for them to do so is created. You will agree with us that this behaviour, if it is true, is criminal and constitutes a flagrant violation of national laws such as the Prevention of Corruption Act. We are also concerned that the allegations against the RBZ which are true, are damaging and have grave implications to accountability, transparency and integrity principles espoused in human rights and anti-corruption treaties such as the SADC Protocol against Corruption, AU Convention on the Preventing and Combating Corruption and the UN Convention against Corruption to name a few.

Involvement in the illicit buying of diamonds from Marange
There are also reports that the RBZ was or is involved in the illicit buying of diamonds from Marange, a serious contravention of the Kimberley process, which is a joint governments, industry and civil society initiative to stamp out the flow of conflict diamonds used by some movements to finance wars against legitimate governments or movements. We hope you will agree with us that trade in these illicit stones has fuelled devastating conflicts and serious violations in Zimbabwe and other countries such as Angola, Cote d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sierra Leone.

Part of this petition is
1. That you empower the existing Anti-Corruption Commission of Zimbabwe to carry out its duties and responsibilities independently and effectively, and
2. That the government of Zimbabwe ratifies/accedes to or otherwise abide by the provisions of UN Convention against Corruption of 2004, the AU Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption and the SADC Protocol Against Corruption.

We trust that your good offices will positively consider this request since we all want to see Zimbabwe regaining its glory once again.