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Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre (ALAC) update October 2009
Transparency International - Zimbabwe (TI-Z)
November 02, 2009

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The TI-Z Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre (ALAC) is a forum for the public to report corruption, seek free legal advice and propose solutions to redress prevent corruption and promote values of transparency and accountability. ALAC publishes monthly updates which are an analysis of statistics aimed at revealing trends of corruption as reported by the public. The purpose of these updates is not to name and shame individuals, entities or sectors, but to prompt a self reflection process which can lead to institutional & systemic reform, and a change in value systems to more ethical and moral conduct at a personal level. At a policy making and governance level, it is hoped that the magnitude of the problem is appreciated and its prioritisation raised in the development and recovery agenda of Zimbabwe.

Initial Contacts Received by ALAC

ALAC received a total of 43 initial contacts in the month of October, which is a slight decline from the 58 initial contacts received in September. From its inception, ALAC has received a total of 501 initial contacts. The graph below shows the distribution of initial contacts received this month according to sector.

There has been an increase in complaints received about the private sector. The majority of the complaints received this month were in respect of the legal profession. Complaints received allege that some in the profession are employing unnecessary delays in simple court processes as a means to demand more legal fees. It is further alleged that some lawyers representing opposing parties are conniving with each other in the obstruction of justice to serve the interests of the party willing to pay. Lawyers are further alleged to be continuously postponing matters in courts so that they rip-off their clients in legal fees for the court attendances. Legal practitioners are supposed to be the guardians of the law and integrity. Connivance in the obstruction of justice cannot go unpunished by the law society and the courts.

A trend that carried over from last month involves officials of National Employment Councils (NECs) who are allegedly frustrating employees from making claims against their employers regarding salaries and benefits. The allegations point to NEC officers receiving bribes from the employer companies so that they postpone and eventually get rid of claims from their employees. Sad to note, is that some employees retrenched at the beginning of the year have still not received their dues from the employers.

The right to health care is under threat due to unscrupulous and unethical behaviour by members of the health profession who are allegedly conniving to sell drugs donated by well wishers. Complaints received illustrate that people living with HIV and AIDS have fallen victim to these scams at hospitals and clinics as they are made to buy Anti Retroviral Treatment which they are ideally supposed to get for free.

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