President Emmerson Mnangagwa says corruption in form of
either act of commission or omission by government officials will not be
tolerated, declaring that days of cartels are over.
He said this at the launch of Procurement Regulatory
Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ) at the Harare International Conference Centre
(HICC) this Thursday morning.
Corruption will not be condoned. Lets turn a new leaf and
build a prosperous Zimbabwe asserts President Mnangagwa as he declares PRAZ
officially launched…….Let me reiterate that ethical behavior in procurement is
paramount. This must never be taken lightly. Board of directors must know of
their fiduciary duties, he said.
The President highlighted that he is also aware of some
departments that are grossly increasing prices of essential capital goods,
saying his government will not tolerate such filthy, criminal and greedy
tendencies.
It is disheartening that purchases had been characterised by
inflation of prices and other malpractices like doubling costs for self-serving
objectives. I am aware that some Government officials would [also] inflate
figures. That should stop. I challenge PRAZ to effectively carry out its
mandate, play its mandate in a way that inspires confidence, said President
Mnangagwa.
I am aware that PRAZ does not have teeth. We will give you
the teeth. It will not be acceptable for there to be bottlenecks caused by
PRAZ. PRAZ must always supervise entities below it, the President added.
He then handed over a donation of 175 desktop computers to
the procurement entity, saying through an electronic procurement system, gone
are the days when a project would go for one year in the office of PRAZ.
If a project is approved or not that should be made clear
in order to chat the way forward. The days of cartels are over, declared
President Mnangagwa.
Vice President Kembo Mohadi said the establishment of PRAZ
was supported by World Bank to the tune of a US$2 million grant, an indictment
that re-engagement efforts by President Mnangagwa were paying off.
PRAZ Board Chairperson, Mrs Vimbai Nyemba said s public
procurement is one of the activities most vulnerable to corruption due to the
volume of transactions and the financial interests at stake.
Mrs Nyemba added that her board is happy that the law
empowers the authority to investigate corrupt entities and individuals, and
making corruption a punishable offense.zbc
0 comments:
Post a Comment