“Honestly speaking, I was blown away, because I didn’t realize there were organizations that were doing this, and that fit right into the space that I prefer to work in, which is basically using the law for development by straddling that space between assisting governments to reach a higher level of technical legal expertise in order to contribute to the general development of this country.”
-Bridget Mafusire, ISLP Advisor on Zimbabwe, leads the ISLP in its groundbreaking anti-corruption and anti-bribery work in the country, among other projects.
Beginning her career in government, Mafusire’s work allowed her to contribute to the development of Zimbabwe and the continent as a whole. However, she soon realized that there is only so much that technocrats in government can do while under political influences, Mafusire decided to make the transition into the private sector. “Blown away” by the organization’s work, Mafusire became part of the ISLP team, and felt that she had found the exact space she always wanted to work in, one that was “straddling that space between assisting government to reach a higher level of technical legal expertise while at the same time contributing to the general development [of Zimbabwe].”
At the forefront of working to capacitate the country towards sustainable development, Mafusire has dissected the current difficult economic and political situation in Zimbabwe and used her legal career to address the corruption that has penetrated every level of society. Corruption in the country is “a raging fire” fueled by various factors, she says. Foremost is the current economic collapse facing Zimbabwe. The new administration, still in transition, following the previous 30-plus year regime, has been impeded from meeting its obligations by a complex political environment, and therefore, has been unable to provide the necessary infrastructure for a functional economy. Additionally, the country’s history of corruption has seeped into its private sector, where many individuals have come to expect it. Transparency International Zimbabwe notes that one of the most common currencies of corruption is in the form of sexual favors. Within the hallways of the corporate world, women especially, are in some instances expected to give sexual favors. Sadly, this behavior has become increasingly prevalent and rife in Zimbabwe.
As part of the current government’s attempt to confront corrupt patterns, the Constitution established an independent Anti-Corruption Commission. However, the Office of the President has set up a special Anti-Corruption Unit separate from the Anti-Corruption Commission, which Mafusire says could conflict with the Commission and may negate its power and decisions. Perhaps related to this, not many cases of corruption have been successfully prosecuted and convicted despite a number of arrests. There are reports, however, that the independent Anti-Corruption Commission is undergoing a restructuring process. Even though there is hope that this will lead to a more effective enforcement mechanism within the regulatory body, Mafusire says that the lack of coordination and communication between government departments (themes that continue to arise within the context of ISLP trainings) remain as obstacles. For example, it is reported that a staggering $15 billion dollars in diamond revenue allegedly went missing through official channels with no explanation yet. In conversations with officials across multiple divisions of government, Mafusire finds it clear that “they all know what they are supposed to do [about corruption], but they somehow are not able to do it.” She explains that the operating environment itself has a crippling effect on the “ability of one government department to speak to another in order to take necessary action, and to conduct necessary investigations.”
In order to address the harmful silence between departments, Mafusire, in her role as ISLP Country Advisor engaged the Law Society and held a 
groundbreaking Anti-Corruption training this past September that gathered members of the Anti-Corruption Commission, members of the Reserve Bank’s Financial Intelligence Unit, law enforcement officials, public prosecutors, and private sector lawyers in one room to talk about the “elephant in the room,” the worst-kept secret in Zimbabwe: pervasive corruption. “Bringing together those parties, in itself, was like the Round One breakthrough,” Mafusire says, “because they haven’t been talking to each other in the past, and they’ve been unable to deal with the issues effectively because of that.” The next stage, or Round Two in her words, will evaluate how the long-awaited collaboration between stakeholders can realize “an actual impact on the wider society and on the wider issue of corruption itself.” Mafusire aims to hold another round table discussion this spring and hopes for full participation by the government, but is also certain that, even without complete government buy-in, they will still have benefited greatly from the dialogue.
One of Mafusire’s other major partnerships in Zimbabwe is the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA), which she collaborates with as a Legal Fellow through ISLP. Although they also deal with climate change and other issues relating to natural resource governance in the country, ZELA’s primary focus has been in the extractive industry, a source of potential empowerment and historic exploitation. ZELA operates a program intended to assist and advocate for small-scale miners, who are estimated to contribute approximately 60% of all mining product nationwide, yet are rarely recognized nor protected by the government due to lack of proper licensing. The issue is then further complicated by the environmental devastation that can and often does occur due to mining operations that are simultaneously unregulated and heavily relied on.
In June, Mafusire traveled with ZELA to the rural area of Gwanda to meet with a group of gold miners, some with licenses and many without, and talk about the issues they face. The trip deeply struck Mafusire and stayed with her after she left Gwanda because, she says, “I saw women, I saw girls, I saw older men. I was surprised, because I thought your average illegal gold miner would be a middle-aged man.” Much of the national and international dialogue seems to frame these miners as destructive and opportunistic, which discourages the government from acknowledging them unless it is in the language of a police raid. However, as Mafusire observes, many of these miners are women, children, and elders facing unemployment and desperation in these harsh economic times. In an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, an illegal gold miner acknowledges the negative impact of mining activities on the environment, but states outright, “This is our only source of livelihood. Look, there are no jobs in the country.” The same miner also explains that a good portion of their demand comes from illegal buyers in Mozambique, who will pay up to twice the Zimbabwean price of gold. With assistance from ISLP and volunteer law firms, ZELA is now preparing legislative recommendations to present to the government regarding small-scale miners, their rights, and the double bind between unemployment and unregulated extraction.
ISLP’s work in Zimbabwe has also addressed disparities in political capital and legal resources through the Commercial Law Training Program, developed in partnership with the Law Society of Zimbabwe. “It’s really been an eye-opener,” Mafusire explains, because “the point…is to empower [local lawyers] so they’re able to sit across a table and advise their clients in a meaningful way,” particularly when concluding “mega-deals” with multinational corporations equip with a team of legal experts. By building the knowledge-base and the capacity of local lawyers, their voices strengthen and can level with international colleagues.
Perhaps the most effective and transformative aspect of ISLP’s model, in Zimbabwe and beyond, is that “we embed ourselves and we partner with local NGOs,” creating a foundation for capacity building and continued progress long after the organization has left the field. For example, by providing detailed legal expertise and enabling ZELA to more effectively deliver its mandate to the government, ISLP has positioned the organization to reach out even further in their engagement now and decades into the future. There is, Mafusire notes, always the possibility that the partner organizations or governments will not go that far, that they could receive a report and stick it in a drawer indefinitely. However, she continues, “Because we are there on the ground as partners with them, and they see my face everyday, they are actually compelled to take it further.”
Take it where? Where is Zimbabwe going, and where will ISLP be as it gets there? For Bridget Mafusire, the blueprint of Zimbabwe’s future is already laid out in its Constitution of 2013. By the end of this year, she hopes to align all legislation to those constitutional standards and gain reform on issues of corruption and contract transparency by supporting institutions like ZELA, the Law Society of Zimbabwe, and the Center for Applied Legal Research.