By Staff Reporter
HARARE – The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) is facing accusations of internal restructuring chaos,
recruitment and nepotism which analysts say it undermines meritocracy, professionalism and institutional integrity within the anti graft body.
Close source say the ongoing recruitment process is marred by manipulated interviews which are a mere formalities, shady shortlists of candidates for certain positions and use of patronage networks, nepotism and corruption to get jobs.
ZACC usually publishes rolling recruitment drives within the institution.
The most recent recruitment drive under Advert 1 of 2026 concluded on March 2 for several vacant posts.
The anti graft body has advertised a litany of strategic positions, including general manager investigations, provincial heads, managers, legal officers, external relations officers, compliance and systems review officers, human resources officers, public education officers, procurement officers and audit and risk officers.
This means a mass recruitment process is underway amid accusations of corrupt manipulation of the exercise.
ZACC’s recruitment process is supposed to be professional, merit-based and credible.
A professional recruitment process is critical for ZACC to effectively fulfill its constitutional mandate to combat corruption, eliminate nepotism, and build public trust. As an agency tasked with fighting corruption and ensuring integrity in public management affairs and the private sector, its own internal hiring standards directly dictate credibility, institutional legitimacy and operational capacity.
By enforcing merit-based hiring, ZACC prevents patronage and nepotism, building public trust and operational competence to combat systemic corruption.
The allegations of a corrupt recruitment process, which have emerged from multiple sources within the commission, suggest that concerns extend far beyond isolated decisions and point to what some employees describe as “a coordinated system of influence over appointments and internal deployments.”
A close source within the commission told The Harare Times that the interview are now a mere formality. In most recent cases, decisions were already made before candidates entered the interview rooms.
Candidates are shortlisted before interviews and then taken through the motions before they are given jobs, which is unprofessional, nepotistic and corrupt.”
The controversy stems from a large-scale recruitment exercise launched in February 2026 after an earlier process reportedly failed to come to a conclusion.
Several insiders say preferred candidate lists were compiled before interviews and circulated to shortlisting committees ans influential individuals.
At the centre of the story is Michael Reza the commission chairperson and former Epworth ZANU PF legislator for, Zalerah Makari who now oversees the human resources portfolio at commission, as the preferred candidates were communicated through her department and conveyed to recruitment panels by general manager human resources, Humphrey Magorimbo.
“We were told the shortlists were instructions from senior authorities,” another source said.
Magorimbo has also become the subject of separate allegations from insiders who claim that some of his colleagues have sought to extort prospective employees.
According to sources, Magorimbo has told some committee members that his “hands are tied”, suggesting he was acting on instructions from senior officials rather than exercising independent authority.
Inside sources say about 35 candidates were shortlisted from a larger pool of applicants to compete for 11 vacancies.
However, insiders claim the successful candidates had already been identified before interviews, with the remaining prospective employees merely going the motions.
One source quoted Magorimbo as allegedly telling committee members: “Ndizvo zvataurwa nevakuru.”
Reza was a feared public prosecutor during his tenure at the Harare Magistrates Court.
At one point former finance minister Tendai Biti described, Reza as a hired gun who “persecute” opposition politicians and activists.
Efforts to get a comment from Reza were unsuccessful as his went unanswered.
Extra Reporting: Newshawks
