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by its very nature and content should be able to bring about the desired change since it places a premium price on corruption prevention, avoidance, resistance, non- indulgence or abhorrence of corruption. The observations they made were worth considering in my study and it would be very interesting to find out what Zimbabweans would perceive about the same issues.
According to Sand, (2001) and the World Bank, (2018), curbing corruption required the following qualities;
• Developing a culture of openness, meritocracy, strong leadership and political will.
• Addressing corruption should be holistic-embracing good governance, accountability, transparency and entrenchment of the rule of law.
• Upholding of the constitution and stop politicizing charges of corruption and theft.
• Corruption should bitter all and agitate the minds of our anti-corruption crusaders.
• We should all be patriotic and shun corruption.
I tend to agree with the points proffered by Sand (2001) and the World Bank, (2018) in my study it would be important to establish what the Zimbabweans think about the proposed qualities to curb corruption. It would appear as if Sand (2001) was giving what looks like a prescription to Nigeria, an African country like Zimbabwe. The fact that Nigeria is the second biggest economy in Africa and that Zimbabwe shares a lot with Nigeria might also imply that corruption trends in that country may not be very different from those obtaining in Zimbabwe.
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is able to drastically reduce the corruption levels to a single digit before the year 2030 from a current rating of over 80 %. Although this is the dream the country was grappling with, the same country is rated number 157 out of 180 on the Transparency International global perception index. (Transparency International, 2018). As the country tries to woo foreign investors, the efforts may be hitting a brick wall due to the fact that international financers require to work with countries that abhor, punish corruption and observe human rights strictly, (Beuselinck, et al, 2017).
They also demand security of their investment and the presence of general laws that work in their favour. However, the unclear Indigenization and empowerment Act and high levels of corruption have effectively discouraged foreign investment in the recent past. The Zimbabwean government has also done everything possible to lure local investors by even going on to host endless meetings on the ease of doing business in nearly all the cities but the crux of the matter has been centering on systems and procedures for investing while very little has been said about dealing with the distressing levels of corruption.
I should put it on record that unless the investors are convinced that their money would be guaranteed safe considering all macro-economic factors (including corruption), it remains very difficult to get a serious investor in Zimbabwe. A well effectuated public education strategy should see the correct turn of events where there is widespread transparency and accountability in both the public and private sectors of the economy, (Ransomed and Newton, 2018). Edinyang and Usang, (2012), argue that the impact of an effective education system should result in having a society with changed and improved habits. This implies that people have to desist from all forms of corruption at home, school and in the community. Parents in every household should be role models to their children and help to inculcate ethical value systems which would inform culture and practice, (Macionis,1997). Schools and colleges should be centres of excellence where teachers lead by example, and help to abhor all corrupt practices. Although it is regrettable that teachers claim to be poorly paid currently in Zimbabwe, it is incumbent on them to always realize that they should strive to produce an upright generation which is characterised by virtues of hard work and professionalism. This explains the reasons why all citizens have to participate in anti-corruption education.
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The education of the public on ethics and accountability is key in the maintenance of law and order in a country, (Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, 2015).
Corruption can cause social disobedience by members of public to an extent that one finds people demonstrating in streets daily, while others loot in shops and some use any weapon available to them to rob unsuspecting people. When a crisis happens in the economy, leaders should take positive steps to educate the public on the modalities required to address the problem. As Stahl, (2018) would put it, public awareness campaigns targeted at character building would be better preferred as opposed to coercive announcement / directives usually meant to instill fear in the people. In Zimbabwe there are cases of people who have been arrested and jailed for corruption but records continue to show that soon after serving their sentences some of them continued with their corrupt tendencies, hence the term ‘habitual criminals’. My study considers investigation and prosecution of corrupt people as part of preventive education since there are some former prisoners who completely changed into law abiding citizens. However, I continue to advocate for an anti- corruption public education system that cuts across all age groups and take precedence over investigation and prosecution of corruption suspects.
In countries like Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea anti-corruption education is provided for through formal and informal ways, (Meziebi, 2012). At school, anti- corruption education can be integrated into existing curriculum or taught as a stand- alone subject, (Komalasari and Saripudin, 2015). Informally, it can be given as entertainment, through dramatization, miming, story-telling, music, songs, dance role play, simulations among other ways. Some of these activities can be video recorded and then played from time to time either at school or when people relax at home.
These methods of raising anti-corruption awareness had a tremendous impact in people’s lives in Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea. Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea are rated among the least corrupt countries on the Transparency International perception index. My study, therefore agrees with the mode of public education applied in the three countries stated above but I seek to move a step forward and establish the methods and techniques which would be appropriate and applicable to Zimbabwe as a developing country.
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In my experience as an educationist, I find that the public education system that has been applied in South Korea quite effective in raising awareness on anti-littering in the streets. The public have been educated that when they buy a drink or any type of food from points of sale machines, the money they are charged includes a deposit which they would be given back when they dump the empty container. The South Koreans found this method user friendly and at the same nobody engaged in street littering because at the end of it all one would lose the money one would have paid as a deposit should one dumps litter in undesignated places. The South Korean streets could be ranked as the smartest in the world although credit should be given to the public education that was and continues to be given to the people of that country. The anti-littering practice has become a South Korean culture. I feel that the South Korean anti-littering model provides a good framework for a successful public education model that Zimbabwe may need to study before adopting some of its critical aspects to improve on its anti-corruption education.
In comparison, the Zimbabwean government is busy promulgating anti-littering laws, whose enforcement is proving to be very difficult due to heavy resistance by the public while the streets continue to be littered. The South Korean example, in my study stands as one of the best methods of providing public education since most of the people were agreed on anti-littering. It is my conviction that the success of the Anti-littering programme could have been linked to a sound involvement of the public in formulation, implementation and evaluation of a programme. My study is set to explore those opportunities that Zimbabweans need to have in setting up an effective Anti-corruption public education which would be widely accepted by the public.
In a desk review report on corruption in the Education Sector by Wood and Antonowicz (2011) in Peru, the findings of the study were that public education increased buy-in in the communities and created enabling political environment, supportive legislation and strong partnerships between Civil Society and the Anti- Corruption Agency. The study further advocates for mainstreaming of anti-corruption education in the school curriculum and that the combined use of print and electronic media including relevant teaching aids, (cartoons, posters, flyers etc) in schools were found to be helpful in educating the public. My planned study puts to test the availability and effectiveness of such factors and the extent to which they would
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support the effectuation of meaningful public education while an effort has been made to find out the degree to which the use of print and electronic media would enhance public awareness on anti-corruption issues in Zimbabwe.