In carrying out this study, I hoped that it would be beneficial to the government of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission, Civil Society Organizations, industry and the general public.
General Public
The findings of this study might be helpful to the general public in that they could demand a public education which would address their felt needs as opposed to
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assumptions made by anti-corruption educators. With many companies closing shop and unemployment rising, the Zimbabwean public believe that their biggest enemy is corruption. In the same vein, the citizens are likely to be convinced that the worsening economic environment can only improve if the fight against corruption is enhanced and the situation can only be better if every citizen does his / her duty in the fight against corruption. The public may have a desire to participate in future public education fora having the confidence that the corrupt would be named and shamed as well as being prosecuted and incarcerated in prison while their views may be incorporated in future anti-corruption policies and also that they remain key in combating corruption.
Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission
The findings of this study are likely to reveal the shortcomings of the anti-corruption education run by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) in its bid to combat corruption vis-a-vis the national expectations on reducing the prevalence of corruption. An improvement on resource allocation may allow ZACC to take public education to the people throughout the country. ZACC may also use other more effective platforms for engaging the public like radio and television broadcasts, website, newspapers journals and others which are comparatively more expensive.
The government would seek modalities to subsidize ZACC’s public education programmes on both radio and television so that the public is constantly apprised on the state of corruption and how to prevent it in Zimbabwe. The study would also be important to ZACC in the sense that ZACC would be obliged to constantly update and upgrade its public education content and methodologies with the hope to address current trends in the field of corruption and anti-corruption. The fact that corruption is affecting everybody in the country and that every citizen has a potential to be corrupt or can come across corrupt people means that this study has the potential to go a long way in recommending the decentralization of ZACC services to provincial and district centres throughout the country. The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission would also advocate for the inclusion of Anti-corruption content in the school curriculum starting from primary school level to colleges of higher education.
19 Civil Society Organizations
The Civil Society Organizations always claim to be the voice of the people and therefore this study is bound to give them renewed impetus on how to convince government that corruption is ravaging the economy. The findings of this study are set to inform the Civil Society Organizations that they are equal players in both the commission of corruption offences and secondly that they are critical in shaping and implementing a broad-based anti-corruption education in the country. Most Civil Society Organizations have been suspected of spearheading political corruption using various tactics especially towards general election time. It has been alleged that they were political conduits who bribe unsuspecting members of the public with money, food, clothing and others in order to influence the political discourse in a country, (www.zimonline.co.za). Since the majority of Civil Society Organizations specialise in humanitarian work involving issues like conflict resolution, poverty reduction and bringing developmental projects they are in constant touch with the public whom they teach / educate. Thus, they may also learn a great deal on how to effectively carry out public education especially on anti-corruption in Zimbabwe.
Instead of seeing each other as rival parties, the government and Civil Society may realise the need to cooperate in addressing the issues of corruption rather than blaming each other most of the times.
Industry
Public and private organizations may also benefit from the findings of this study through mainstreaming anti-corruption initiatives and processes in their organizational structures, policies and regulations. Industry may benefit through establishing integrity committees within their echelons so that people would constantly advise each other on adhering to best practices in the execution of their duties. The management of companies should follow best standards where good corporate governance is upheld and is seen to be practiced. Industry should adopt clear segregation of duties so as to prevent the exercise of impunity which promotes abuse of power. Thus, they have to strictly uphold the ethics of transparency and accountability in their day to day operations. Industry also stands to benefit from this study if it exercised professionalism, integrity and meritocracy. Thus, people have to be hired on the basis of their competence and qualifications and not on the grounds of politics of patronage. The same should apply to the procurement of goods and
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services. A transparent method must be used during procurement of goods and services as this helps in plugging loopholes for corruption.
Government of Zimbabwe
The findings of the study may also be of benefit to government officials who read and use it and thereby act responsibly towards combating corruption. Thus, government may prioritise to mobilise more resources towards combating corruption and more so towards anti-corruption education. Zimbabwe is currently striving to woo foreign investors to restart the ailing economy. In this line of thinking government has spent millions of finances on foreign trips, the majority of which fail specifically on two fronts which included, suspected poor economic policies for example the Indigenous and empowerment Act which spells out that foreign investors must partner locals on a 51 to 49 percentage shareholding structure. Secondly, foreign investors were skeptical about the high levels of corruption which are obtaining in Zimbabwe. The two reasons among many others seem to have kept the country dry of any foreign direct investment to date and industry is on the brink of collapsing. The government may require to repeal some of these unfavourable laws and seriously commit itself to fight corruption by taking a leading role in campaigning against corruption. In the same vein, I hope the government might come up with a broad-based Anti-corruption policy which in effect would give rise to changes in school curricular such that anti- corruption education is taught either as a stand-alone subject or is integrated in all the existing subjects.