Mugabe clamps down on corruption

Years ago, it must have been in the early nineties, I was watching ZBC (Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation) in Harare when Mugabe came on to give one of his inconclusive, meandering speeches. At some point he said (I am quoting from memory):

Ministers should not steal, at least not too much…

And started chuckling at his own joke. I froze; the implications were horrible to contemplate. He was saying to his cronies in government: obey me and I'll let you get away with anything; we are in charge now and we can do as we please; the people of Zimbabwe are sheep and we can fleece them at will; loot and plunder, it's for us to take.

That, of course, was the beginning of the end.

Now he is running scared and wants to put a stop to it after having been such a shining example? It could be his undoing.