United States-based veteran opposition activist Freeman Chari has claimed that corruption is deeply entrenched within the opposition movement.

In a post on X, Chari said that some figures within the opposition discourage efforts to expose corruption, arguing that doing so would provide ZANU PF with ammunition to attack the opposition. Said Chari:

The biggest problem in the pro-democracy movement is that we have so many corrupt people in there. Anyone exposing those people is quickly shut down hanzi you give ZANU PF ammunition.

If you call them out privately they don’t stop. It did not start now. In the early 2000s, there was a scholarship program in MDC for persecuted activists, soon it became a family affair.

Chari warned that sweeping corruption in the opposition under the carpet will embolden the corrupt, and the same people may end up being elected to public office such as councils where they perpetuate graft. He said:

We have seen many of such initiatives, finances etc just being mishandled. We end up being quiet because of the law of unintended consequences but it doesn’t stop.

It then goes into councils and the same unscrupulous characters carry the same behaviour into office. We defend them but they don’t stop.

Chari, who has raised thousands of dollars to build classroom blocks at schools across Zimbabwe, said that there is a need for transparency and accountability within the opposition, warning that failure to do so could lead to the opposition becoming just like ZANU PF.

Corruption within Zimbabwe’s councils, including those governed by opposition councillors, has been a longstanding issue.

Recently, Bulawayo Deputy Mayor Edwin Ndlovu and Councillor Mpumelelo Moyo were arrested for allegedly demanding a US$20,000 bribe from Chinese investors.

The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) has highlighted that council officials are a significant source of corruption, with 13% of all reported cases involving local government employees.

Meanwhile, the ongoing commission of inquiry into Harare City Council, led by Retired Justice Maphios Cheda, continues to expose widespread corruption, with several council officials—some affiliated with the opposition—implicated in massive graft.

More: Pindula News