75 ZIMRA Officers Arrested Between 2018 And 2021
A total of 75 Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) employees have been arrested and prosecuted for various corrupt activities between 2018 and 2021.
The revelations come days as ZIMRA is investigating three Beitbridge-based revenue officers who built mansions in Harare, but failed to account to their employer how they raised the money following a lifestyle audit.
ZIMRA acting Commissioner-General Ms Regina Chinamasa last week told a stakeholder meeting in Masvingo that in addition to the 75 employees, 34 stakeholders were also arrested, according to The Sunday News.
Mrs Chinamasa said provinces like Masvingo which are along the main Beitbridge-Chirundu highway should play a pivotal role in dealing with corruption. She said:
Masvingo is strategically located on the North-South corridor and there is a lot of enforcement activities that is happening in the region.
Given its importance geographically we also find that it’s so important that as Masvingo we embrace the fight against corruption because it could be very rife in this area.
Given our strategic location in the region, as ZIMRA, it is our pledge not to allow Zimbabwe to be the final destination or transit of smuggled goods.
In responding to issues on the aspect of remuneration as the officers face temptation from businesspeople who try to avoid paying duties, Mrs Chinamasa cautioned that there was a very thin line between being greedy and being adequately remunerated.
She said the authority believes negotiated positions always bring out a win-win situation which promotes opportunities that compel officers to resist, report and reject corruption.
Speaking at the same event, Minister of State for Masvingo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Ezra Chadzamira said corruption was a nationwide scourge which requires people to join in the fight. He himself was last year arrested for alleged corruption involving sugarcane plots at Kilimanjaro, Chiredzi.
