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Chombo must be fired
Movement
for Democratic Change
November
05, 2010
The published
part of the vast personal asset register of Ignatius Chiminya Chombo,
a close ally of Robert Mugabe, a senior Zanu PF politburo member
and a Cabinet minister, arising from his marriage dispute before
the High Court, clearly points to his unsuitability for public office.
The salary and benefits of Cabinet ministers are a matter of public
record. There is no way a single, honest person in high office could
have managed to acquire such treasure, other than through abuse
of office.
It is without doubt that Chombo, a former teacher,
neither inherited the wealth nor ever owned a business empire to
justify personal ownership of such a sickening amount of wealth.
Before his appointment to government, slightly more than a decade
ago, Chombo's claim to property was a smallholding in the
former African purchase area of Chitomborwizi near Chinhoyi. In
the absence of an explanation of how he managed to acquire such
an obscene array of properties from Chirundu to Chiredzi; from Victoria
Falls to Mutare; a fleet of top of the range vehicles and commercial
trucks; 10 companies; commercial farms; mines and safari lodges,
Chombo must simply be relieved of his official duties and called
to account as he is clearly unfit for public office.
Mugabe seems to shield Chombo. After the Harare
City Council reported him to the police in April 2010 for his involvement
in shady deals in the city, involving an irregular acquisition of
more than 20 hectares of prime land in the plush suburb of Helensvale,
the police ignored the complaint and never mounted a criminal investigation.
The MDC understands that Chombo's assets are
merely a tip of the iceberg, compared to the collective loot that
the entire top Zanu PF leadership holds as personal and family estates.
There are numerous reports of other senior leaders owning literally
whole towns, like Rusape and Victoria Falls. That Chombo has been
able to acquire such booty in such a short period of time makes
nonsense claims by Mugabe and Zanu PF that travel restrictions on
their senior party leadership are the prime cause of Zimbabwe's
slide into an economic abyss.
The MDC has been vindicated by the latest expose
inside Zanu PF. The party has always maintained that Zanu PF politicians
often raid state coffers and national assets for personal use. It
is now clear from the latest case that the collapse of Zimbabwe
was authored and promoted by Zanu PF through unbridled asset-stripping,
corruption, violence and dictatorship, as evidenced by the revelations
emanating from the domestic tiff between Chombo and his ex-wife,
Marian, which is now spilling out into the public domain. Under
an MDC government, no public official can get away with such greed
and avarice. Inside the MDC family, our leaders have signed a code
of ethics and values; and have declared their private property and
assets for public scrutiny.
On a national scale, the MDC calls for a comprehensive
inquiry into the private interests of all senior Zanu PF leaders
and senior public officials, from any other sections of our society,
to ascertain the impact of the looting that has taken place in Zimbabwe
during the past 30 years. Only through a judicial commission of
inquiry can Zimbabweans, in the public interest, be able to know
fully the plunderers of their national heritage and finite resources.
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