As Karl Krauss observed, corruption is worse than prostitution. The latter might endanger the morals of an individual, the former invariably endangers the morals of the entire country.
“I will fight corruption without fear of favour. I will personally lead the charge… pray for me and support me in this war because those involved are not the ordinary wananchi (citizens)”.
This is what the new President of Tanzania had to say when he opened the 11th parliament in Dodoma, Tanzania. This opinion will not dwell much on Dr Magufuli as that is a matter for another day. I however hope that you can connect the dots.
“We must uphold the fighting of tigers and flies at the same time, resolutely investigating law-breaking cases of leading officials and also earnestly resolving the unhealthy tendencies and corruption problems which happen all around people”.
These were the words of Xi Jinping in January 2013 when he vowed to crack down and go after both tigers (corrupt high-level officials) and flies (small-time crooks). Like what Magufuli is doing in Tanzania, Jinping stamped his authority and pursued meaningful discipline by making more populist moves – banning officials from making long, boring speeches or being given red carpet welcomes, and ordering the military to stop holding alcohol- fuelled banquets and staying in luxury hotels. Since 2013, he has cemented his bona fides as a corruption fighter in China.
Corruption Fighter
Jinping is a swashbuckling corruption buster. To send the point home, he has created an impeccable record of snaring the big tigers. In June, Zhou Yongkang, the former security chief and retired Politburo Standing Committee member was sentenced to life imprisonment for bribery, abuse of power and intentionally disclosing national secrets. Before this, Zhou was one of the most powerful men in China, overseeing courts, prosecuting agencies, the police, paramilitary forces, and intelligence organs. Yao Mugen who served as Vice-Governor of Jiangxi province was convicted of corruptions and sentenced.
Jiang Jiemin, a former general manager and then chairman of the China National Petroleum Corporation (a parent company of PetroChina), and later director of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) was in March 2013 convicted on charges of abuse of power, bribery and being part of a network of vice and malfeasance, and sentenced to 16 years in prison. Bo Xilai, a former mayor of Dalian, former governor of Liaonin, former Minister of Commerce and a member of the Central Politburo and secretary of the Communist Party’s Chongqing branch was charged and found guilty in September 2013 of corruption, stripped of all his assets, and sentenced to life imprisonment.Advertisement

Xu Caihou, a military general in the People’s Liberation Army of China and Vice-Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the country’s top military council – a role that made him one of the top ranking officers of the Chinese military – was in March 2014 arrested and investigated on suspicion of bribery and corruption – receiving massive bribes for promotions of officers under him. He died this year before he got his punishment, but after being expelled from the communist party.  Xu’s arrest was unprecedented in China because he was a high-ranking general.
Ling Jihua, a former principal political adviser to ex-President and General Secretary of the Communist Party Hu Jintao, was in July this year expelled from the Communist Party and arrested for bribery and sleaze. His fortunes had started to wan when his 23-year-old son was killed while driving a Ferrari in 2012 – a sign of elite opulence that riles the Chinese masses.
Liu Zhijun a former Minister of Railways of the People’s Republic of China, was in April 2013, arrested on corruption charges for allegedly taking bribes and abusing power as Minister of Railways, and subsequently convicted and given a death sentence with reprieve in July 2013. Liu Tienan who served as the Director of the National Energy Administration between 2011 and 2013, and before that as Deputy Director of the National Development and Reform Commission, was in 2013 investigated and dismissed for corruption-related offenses. In December 2014, Liu was convicted on charges of bribery, and sentenced to life in prison.
Why is this important?
As you see from the foregoing, Jinping is executing his vow to go after both tigers and flies with gumption, efficiency and surgical precision. He will be in Zimbabwe on Tuesday and Wednesday. But again you must connect the dots. The prize for his visit is not Zimbabwe, because he is just passing through. His real objective is to attend the China Africa Summit in in South Africa early December.
However, Mugabe and Jinping are not only from two different schools, they are cut from different cloths and have different visions, perspectives and attitudes to corruption. Mugabe has little or no long term vision at all for Zimbabwe’s future and prosperity. He pays lips service to fighting corruption and his fingers are deep into it. I have in the past asserted that Mugabe is the corruption godfather in Zimbabwe in my opinion here: http://bit.ly/1LwSpks .
On the other hand, Jinping’s record on fighting corruption speaks for itself – ensnaring both tigers and flies. In any case, he would have a fundamental problem reconciling with a person whose only known career has been a teacher and President, and whose wife’s known career has been typewriter operator owning, down the line, millions of dollars’ worth of a dairy business. His vision is clear; expressed through Zhōngguó mèng otherwise known as the Chinese dream – which has been defined to mean national rejuvenation, improvement of people’s livelihoods, prosperity, construction of a better society and common dream of the Chinese people
Through this contrast, can you still connect the dots?
Why else is it important?
How does this affect you? You might ask. Of course it does! On October 8 2015, Jinping’s corruption busters arrested Sam Pa. Chances are you have not heard of the name before, because many people haven’t. But he also uses multiple Chinese, English, Cantonese and Portuguese aliases such as Sampa, Xu Songhua, Sa Muxu, Samo, Sam King, Xu Jinghua, Ghui Ka Leung Tsui King Wah, Ghiu Ka Leung, Sam King, Antonio Famtosonghiu Sampo Menezes and so forth.
He is the brains behind the 88 Queensway Group of companies – so named because  his collection of companies were either registered or operated from Two Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Admiralty, in Hong Kong. He is also known to be the brains behind China International Fund, which has claimed to invest over $20 billion dollars in developing countries – but largely unstable ones.
A former spy with strong military and high level connections, and also described as having a propensity for women and fast cars, Pa is a mercurial and shadowy character who until now has high levels of influence, operating a multi-billion dollar corporate empire in a short space of less than ten years, spanning infrastructure, oil, mining, aviation, agriculture, and real estate.
88 Queensway has tentacles on most continents from Zimbabwe to North Korea all the way to Manhattan in New York where they bought the former JP Morgan building on Wall Street. He set up or bought many companies such as Guangxi Construction and Engineering, Guangxi Water and Electric China Steel 20, Jinghend, Sichuan Nanchong, Sichuan Uingshan, Dayuan International Development and Fuikan Ningde. A man with a neck for cultivating powerful connections, reports indicate that he was close to Lo Fong-hung, a tiny woman who reports show that Hugo Chávez’s described as the daughter of a Chinese general back in 2004. He worked closely with Helder Bataglia dos Santos to build connections in Angola.
Closer to home, his better known creation is a company called China Sonagol  – a Chinese-Angolan joint-venture which ten years ago got western banks backed loans on the back of a $3 billion loan guarantee  from Sinopec –  one of China’s largest state-owned oil companies. Su Shulin, governor of Fujian province was arrested a day before Sam Pa was apprehended. Su is the former head of the Sinopec Group. He worked closely with Pa on oil deals in Angola and the arrest of both buccaneers is linked. In its deals with China Sonangol, Sinopec lost billions of dollars, in the acquisition of five oil blocks. On the other hand Pa, made a fortune from these transactions. He has very strong connections with Angolan President Jos Edwardo Dos Santos. Dos Santos’ daughter is one of the richest women in Africa. Can you still connect the dots?
Pa’s operations however ranged from amoral to morally questionable to unquestionably illegal. With an eye for strong connections to resource-rich countries whose leaders have landed themselves in desperate financial circumstance or international isolation, Pa did deals with Zimbabwe, Guinea, Niger, North Korea and Madagascar among others – leaving a trail of graft, opaqueness, chronic delays and mismanagement.
How did he affect you?

Arrested in China for corruption  … Zanu PF financier Sam Pa at military event in Yinchuan