RAMPANT ZIMBABWEAN CIVIL SERVICE CORRUPTION

UNCLAS HARARE 000996 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR CA/FPP AND AF/S B. WALCH DEPT PLEASE PASS TO KCC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: CMGT CVIS KFRD ZI SUBJECT: RAMPANT ZIMBABWEAN CIVIL SERVICE CORRUPTION REF: HARARE 000928 ¶1. (SBU) As yet another sign of a failed nation, corruption has become endemic within the Zimbabwean civil service, resulting in a near total collapse of government controls over passports and official documents. Civil servants, whose salaries have been eroded to practically nothing by hyper-inflation, have become not only susceptible, but dependent on bribes and kickbacks for basic subsistence. As a result, government controls over passport applications and civil documents have disappeared and fraudulent document vendors have become widespread. Post no longer has any confidence in Zimbabwean passports or government certificates issued within the past two years. ¶2. (SBU) PrintFlow is the GOZ owned company charged with all official printing, except passports and money. During a visit to the company, Conoff observed a moribund facility with ample opportunity for malfeasance. Once employing over 2000 workers with 12 operating presses, the facility now has less than 125 employees and 3 operational presses. According to PrintFlow's Production Manager, Joseph Makande, the employees were not "let-go," but rather, just "disappeared." Salaries, still paid in local currency, have not kept-up with the country's hyper-inflation and average less than 2 USD per month. As a result, the remaining workers are highly susceptible to corruption which supports a flourishing black market document industry. In just one of many recent cases, two PrintFlow employees were arrested with 8 burial order forms, 40 national registration forms, 634 blank government receipts, 27 birth confirmations, 185 blank birth certificates, 113 emergency travel documents, and 21 blank passports. A trusted contact close to the case tells us that this was not their first arrest, and that the two are part of a well-known document ring able to pay its way out of judicial trouble. ¶3. (SBU) Contacts associated with the Ministry of Home Affairs Registrar General (passports) tell us the situation with passport issuance is similarly corrupt. Zimbabwean passport offices are plagued by absenteeism from workers whose salaries don't even cover bus fare to come to work. With no incentive to work within the system, many choose to do nothing without a kickback. Given a continuing desire on the part of impoverished Zimbabweans to flee the country for economic opportunity (reftel),the demand for passports has overwhelmed capacity. Normal passport processing time exceeds two years. In typical Zimbabwean fashion, people have developed a plan to cope, namely a thriving under-the-table process. A reliable source explained how 250 USD could buy one a passport application and a contact at the passport office. This contact would then walk the application through adjudication and printing, with everyone getting a "piece of the action." The result is an official passport printed with whatever biographical data is required by the applicant. ¶4. (SBU) Comment: Our contacts within the government are reluctant to disclose anything negative for fear of retaliation. Nonetheless, symptoms of a failed state--lack of food, a collapsed health care system, closed schools, and ubiquitous bank queues--are evident throughout Zimbabwe. Less visible, but also representative of a failed state, is now endemic corruption. Passport and document fraud are a small but important part of this. End Comment. MCGEE