Basing on the above lessons drawn from the study, I present the following conclusions focusing on the research objectives as previously stated in chapter 1 page 16.
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Objective 1: To establish the extent to which stakeholders were experiencing anti-corruption education
My conclusions on this matter are that the stakeholders were exposed to a variety of ways in which they experienced anti-corruption education in Zimbabwe. They were availed with reading materials, they attended workshops / seminars, commemorations, exhibitions, watched television and listened to radio programmes.
Although the above was the case, the public education on anti-corruption needed to improve in terms of languages used during anti-corruption education sessions and the development of educational material. The ZACC should incorporate other 13 approved national languages in anti-corruption education.
Objective 2: To examine the stakeholders’ perspectives on the role of education in combating corruption
I conclude that the various educational platforms used in anti-corruption education were very appropriate and what was generally required was to invigorate the use of workshops / seminars, exhibitions and commemorations, roadshows and road block campaigns, mass media campaigns, print media, institutional round table discussions and internet-based information dissemination strategies. This study also concludes that the following institutions and groups should be actively involved in anti-corruption education; legislators, civil society organizations, schools and colleges, traditional leaders (chiefs and village heads) and people living with disabilities. The impact of public education on anti-corruption had greatly influenced positive behavioural change among the public. Finally, there was a significant increase in the number of people who were against corruption as compared to a few years before the inception of the Public Education department under the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission.
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Objective 3: To assess the factors conducive for quality public education on anti-corruption
I conclude that the public education on anti-corruption has been hampered by a number of factors as given below;
Political factors
It is my conclusion that the government of Zimbabwe is yet to demonstrate its political will to fight corruption ever since it established the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission in the year 2005. This is supported by the fact that Zimbabwe had never had a state president or cabinet minister who officiated on an anti-corruption meeting or workshop and this is interpreted to imply lack of political will on the country’s leadership. Another example pertains to the lacuna that characterised successive commissions at the expiry of their terms of office. The government normally goes beyond a year before it remembers to swear in new commissioners who are responsible for superintending the operations of ZACC including public education.
Legally, the ZACC secretariat cannot carry out any operations without Commission approval.
Economic Factors
The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission is erratically funded from Treasury and this retards the speed with which public education is dispensed in the country. Due to the erratic funding of anti-corruption education programmes, little or no research was done to improve the content to be taught, very little had been done to produce educational materials while meetings and workshops were cancelled due to lack of funding among several other anti-corruption initiatives. To achieve quality public education on anti-corruption the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission requires to invite experts who add value to their curriculum making, review and evaluation processes. These experts could be specialists in government, parastatals, private sector (including civil society). It is my further conclusion that in order to improve the quality of public education on anti-corruption, the government should be assisted by stakeholders to resource the public education, through capacitating the Commission (training and development of education officers) and adequately funding the anti- corruption educational programmes.
177 Technological factors
The public education on anti-corruption is holding on archaic methods and technologies which are no longer desirable to most of the people in Zimbabwe. For example, the biggest thrust was still in holding workshops, seminars and street campaigns as opposed to the internet-based methods and technologies which are comparatively easier, more involving, and quick to use. In my opinion, the electronic methods of educating the public could be expensive but their effectiveness have better rewards as compared to the traditional methods. However, the ZACC might be encouraged to blend the two types of methods up until when the society is ready for the change-over to electronic ways.
Social factors
The study concludes that the stakeholders lacked adequate knowledge and skills on anti-corruption issues, as a result, very few ordinary people had the resolve to open up on anti-corruption. The stakeholders concurred that corruption was fast becoming a way of living among them. This means that corruption had become a means for survival to a good number of people in society. I also conclude that schools and colleges were doing very little to dispense anti-corruption education to the learners, most of whom were potentially corruption suspects and perpetrators. In most institutions, there was less and less adherence to good corporate governance and as a result the prevalence of corruption was on the rise.
Legal factors
I concluded that the Zimbabwean laws on dealing with corruption were inadequate and this has caused perennial problems to curb corruption. For example, the ZACC is mandated to investigate corruption cases, but it has no arresting powers. Due to this handicap, the ZACC has been labeled, “A toothless bulldog”. For all those who were brought before the courts on corruption charges and were convicted, their prison sentences were considered less deterrent. A good example is that of a person who was sentenced to 9 years in prison for stealing a goat worth $ 25 but a fraudster who converted $ 400 000 was imprisoned for three years only. These legal disparities gave challenges to effective public education on anti-corruption in explaining why the one who was convicted of stealing something of less value was
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sentenced to a longer prison term. However, the government was handy in promulgating the Asset forfeiture and recovery act which enabled the Commission to pursue civil proceedings to recover stolen or tainted property. This development bolstered the public education thrust in the sense that perpetrators of corruption would start to count their losses even before arrest much more than the perceived gains.
Objective 4: To establish the role of education in combating corruption in Zimbabwe
I concluded that the role of education in combating corruption in Zimbabwe was largely to raise people’s awareness on anti-corruption issues, their types, occurrence, causes, effects and the general preventative measures which were appropriate at given times. I further concluded that for education to play its role effectively, there was need to have a national anti-corruption policy (which spells out citizenry expectations on combating corruption), the need to embrace cyber skills and the presence of explicit arresting powers supported by deterrent sentences.