Parliament will meet tomorrow to finalise shortlisted
candidates that will undergo public interviews for appointment to the Zimbabwe
Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc).
One hundred and thirty-three candidates applied to be Zacc
commissioners but only 10 will be appointed.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration is currently
re-jigging institutions and bodies that are pivotal in prosecuting the fight
against corruption, which has become increasingly pervasive in both the public
and private sector.
Clerk of Parliament Mr Kennedy Chokuda told The Sunday Mail
that the vetting process for those eligible for public interviews was almost
complete.
“We have been conducting a very rigorous vetting exercise
of the applicants. As you may be aware, we closed the window for members of the
public to raise objections against the candidates on March 26. So since then,
we have been doing a thorough screening. The vetting is now almost complete,”
said Mr Chokuda.
“We are almost done, and from as early as next week (this
week), we will be good to go, I do not want to be specific on the date, just in
case there may be any delays.”
Some candidates have since dropped out, while others have
failed to meet the grade.
“Out of the 133, there are some who failed to make the
grade, but I am not at liberty to release their names.”
A source, who is a member of Parliament’s Committee on
Standing Rules and Orders (CSRO), said the legislature’s policy-making body
will meet tomorrow to finalise the candidates.
“We are meeting on Monday to tie up the shortlist of
candidates. After the shortlist, we will then be able to publish the names that
have been successfully selected to take part in the public interviews . . .
“There are many who failed the vetting process because of
their previous records.There are also others who voluntarily withdrew. It is
likely that those who withdrew had been nominated by other people in the first
place, rather than out of their own volition.”
It is believed that the CSRO has been conducting a gruelling
and rigorous vetting process for the past six weeks.
However, when the window for objections was opened, several
red flags were raised on some of the applicants.
Notably, some Zacc commissioners controversially flagged 16
aspirants as unsuitable to be considered for the onerous job.
Former commissioners of the Mr Job Wabhira-led commission
left office in January.
The Constitution stipulates that Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption
Commission (Zacc) members “must be chosen for their integrity and their
knowledge of and experience in administration”.
Once the public interviews are done, the remaining
candidates will be whittled to 12 names which will be forwarded to President
Mnangagwa for consideration.
In a special Independence Day interview with the Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) recently, President Mnangagwa pledged to
untiringly fight corruption as the vice was “deep-rooted”.
“I now realise that corruption is deep-rooted. I thought
that by pronouncing that let’s fight corruption those who are corrupt will fear
and stop; it’s not like that. It’s so rooted that you have to fight it from A
to Z. (In) most systems, structures and institutions, there is an element of
corruption,” said the Head of State.
Fighting corruption is considered to be integral to the
country’s march to attain an upper middle-income economy by 2030. Sunday Mail
0 comments:
Post a Comment