Harare has emerged as the most corrupt province out of the country’s 10 provinces, with fraudulent activities being rampant, if complaints received by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) during the first quarter of 2025 are anything to go by.
According to the ZACC 2025 1st Quarter Report, the anti-graft organisation received 158 complaints in Harare, which is 86 percent of corruption related reports out of a total of 183 complaints received countrywide.
In Gweru, ZACC recorded six percent, which is 11 complaints while Mutare was sitting on 3rd position with nine complaints, about five percent of the total recorded corruption cases.
In Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland West provinces, ZACC recorded a total of five complaints.
ZACC did not receive any report in Masvingo and Bulawayo provinces, a scenario the anti-graft organisation attributed to its lack of visibility in those areas.
“It can be noted that other provinces recorded less than 10% of total reports received and this can be attributed to lack of public awareness of the existence of ZACC offices in these provinces.
“The assertion is further supported by an increased number of reports being made in Harare by members of the public from provinces where the Commission already has established offices.
“There is, therefore, need for increased awareness raising,” said ZACC Chairperson Mr Michael Reza in the report.
Mr Reza indicated that 67 reports were received in January, 75 in February while 41 were reported in March.
He reported that 75 percent (138) of the reports received were referred to the investigations department for further management while three percent (5) were referred to the Zimbabwe Republic Police in terms of the Constitution.
A further three percent (6) were referred to the Asset Forfeiture and Recovery Unit for further management.
“The remaining 19 percent (34) of the cases referred to the Selection Committee for the period are still pending review.
“Review by the Selection Committee has, to a large extent, improved on the quality reports referred to the Department for investigation.
“However, the cases still fall short in terms of values involved which remain very low,” he said.
Mr Reza indicated that out of the 183 reports received by ZACC in the first quarter, 87 were against males whilst 23 were against females.
Eighteen reports were against organisations and 55 were against unspecified individuals.
“The Commission made 82 arrests in the first quarter of 2025 of which 54 were males, 25 females and 3 organisations.
“The Commission investigated and completed one-hundred and six (106) dockets.
“Ninety-nine (99) of these dockets were referred to NPA for trial commencement while seven were completed and recommended for closing because of lack of evidence,” he said.
Mr Reza indicated that fraud had the highest number of cases, 45, referred for prosecution followed by criminal abuse of duty with 21 cases and 10 for theft or theft of trust property.
“Other corruption related crimes include money laundering, smuggling, tax evasion, contempt of court and contravention of the Regional Town and Country Planning Act.
“These continue to be crimes of concern and investigative efforts continue targeting them,” he said.
ZACC reported that it handled 99 high profile cases with 26 having been referred for prosecution.
About 73 were general cases.
The Herald
