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Elliot Ziwira Senior Writer
Leader of Nationalists Alliance of Patriotic and Democratic Republicans (NAPDR) Mr Divine Mhambi Hove, who is also a presidential contestant in the forthcoming harmonised elections, has said corruption is Zimbabwe’s “enemy number one” and will tackle the scourge as a matter of priority.

He promised to get down to the root of the country’s problems rather than focus on superficial issues.
In an interview with The Herald yesterday, Mr Mhambi Hove said: “As a leader, my main focus is to address the root causes of our problems, unlike other contestants who are offering solutions to existing problems; which in my view falls short.

“We are in this situation because of corruption and neo-financialism, intimidation, fear and abuse of office, ignorance and meddling in the affairs of Zimbabwe by outside forces.

“These are the roots of our problems, hence they should be addressed first before politicians promise spaghetti roads, free education and other such things.”

The 40-year-old presidential hopeful said he would align law enforcement and security apparatus with the vision to fight corruption.

“There is need for serious measures to deal with corruption, not just mere talk,” said Mr Mhambi Hove.
“Nothing much has been done by law enforcement agents.

“We will create new law enforcement units and bodies; particular police units with specific tasks for specific jurisdictions so that we remove this element of all the police officers reporting to one commissioner as that affects the efficiency of the police service.

“Our vision in the war against corruption and inefficiency is to create police units that are relevant to a particular jurisdiction like a metropolitan province, province, region or district; with separate uniforms and separate organography structures and reporting to the prosecutor-general or his/her representative in that particular area.”

Besides fighting corruption, the NAPDR president pledged to curb cronyism.
“It is our conviction that cronyism, which is the employment or appointment of friends and colleagues, is retrogressive because incompetent people are employed or put on boards,” he said.

“The problem with such people is that they remain loyal to those who appoint them, and are not likely to question their decisions, no matter how bad they may be.

“Ignorance, fear and intimidation will not have a place in our new Zimbabwe. No progress comes in an environment of fear, and no nation moves forward if its citizens are ignorant of matters of State, constitutionalism and commerce.

“As NAPDR, we are of the view that Zimbabweans are capable of solving their own problems, therefore, we will not allow a situation where other countries meddle in our affairs.”

Although upbeat that he would be victorious come July 30, as he had freely taken his campaign trail across the country, Mr Mhambi Hove decried lack of funds, which saw his party failing to field as many candidates as they would have wanted for the National Assembly and local authority slots.

Mr Mhambi Hove implored Zimbabweans to embrace peace, tolerance and harmony as the watershed harmonised elections draw nearer.

“As a peace-loving leader, I encourage the electorate to engage each other constructively, positively and peacefully; within the confines of our laws so that we resolve conflict without resorting to hate speech, provocative speech and hate language,” he said.