IN a move meant to bolster transparency and accountability, more than 100 Government officials yesterday signed Integrity Pledges to reaffirm their commitment to fight corruption as a central element in achieving the nation’s Vision 2030 goals.
The signing ceremony, held in Harare and overseen by the
Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC), saw chief directors and directors
from various Ministries pledge to play a role in preventing and fighting
corruption.
Integrity Pledges are social contracts through which
individuals affirm their commitment to act against corruption.
Individuals are expected to conduct themselves honestly and
openly in all aspects, abiding by the law and always espousing ethical
principles.
Public Service Commission Secretary Dr Tsitsi Choruma, in a
speech read on her behalf by General Manager-Talent Management, Ms Grace
Machakaire, said chief directors and directors had been chosen to lead the
fight against corruption from the front.
“The Anti-Corruption Strategy committee mooted the idea of
the integrity pledge to foreground the eradication of corruption in all sectors
of the economy. We were mindful of the critical need to rid the Public Service
of all forms of malfeasance since its members are at the forefront of
delivering services to citizens and therefore exposed to the vice.
“We are enjoined to sign the Integrity Pledge because the
Government of Zimbabwe declared zero tolerance to corruption which can only be
attained by taking bold behavioural and symbolic steps such as we are taking
today,” she said.
The fight against corruption is a critical pillar of
Zimbabwe’s Vision 2030, which aims to transform the nation into an upper
middle-income society.
Experts believe that by rooting out corruption, Government
can create a more favourable environment for investment, economic growth, and
sustainable development.
Dr Choruma said the first step in the process of cascading
the Integrity Pledge would be the establishment of Integrity Committees in each
Ministry, which would spearhead the prevention of corruption and related
maladministration within their respective parastatals, State-owned enterprises,
Government departments, Ministries and agencies.
ZACC commissioner Ndakaripa Hungwe said the integrity
pledges were not a panacea to corruption, but a starting point in ensuring
behavioural change.
“We realised that we cannot fight corruption on our own as
ZACC, but we needed to ensure that institutions are also part of that fight. We
wanted to see how we could come up with programmes to plug corruption and close
all those loopholes allowing people to engage in corrupt practices.
“Integrity Pledges become one of the tools to fight
corruption, it’s a continuous programme when you are dealing with corruption.
The prevention aspect is what we are concentrating on because we are saying we
cannot keep arresting people because that is not a deterrent.
“The real deterrent is for a person to sign an integrity
pledge, which is a social contract with themselves to say I want to do things
differently, to serve my country, serve my people and meet the goals of the
NDS1 to make sure that our country is a developed country,” she said.
Ms Hungwe said corruption should not continue to be a
drawback in the achievement of national development goals and called upon all
citizens to actively avoid corruption for a better Zimbabwe for future
generations.
To facilitate the achievement of zero tolerance to
corruption, Integrity Pledges have been seen as one of the key measures to
fight corruption through promotion of high standards of ethical behaviour and
good corporate governance as it heavily relies on voluntary individual vows.
Meanwhile, ZACC has partnered universities in the signing
of integrity pledges for the anti-corruption national strategy as the fight
against corruption intensifies.
Yesterday, Zacc and all local universities met at the
University of Zimbabwe in Harare to sign the integrity pledges.
Present was the UZ itself, Midlands States University,
Zimbabwe Open University and Reformed Church University.
The anti-corruption strategy was launched by President
Mnangagwa in 2020 to eradicate corruption.
In an interview, some university representatives said the
signing of integrity pledges would help in the fight against corruption.
MSU Registrar Mr Tinashe Zishiri said: “The integrity
pledge is a combination of the training that was taking place at the University
of Zimbabwe. We talk of professionalism and with the magnitude of the
university, there are a lot of temptations to corruption so we can only fight
corruption if we have champions there.
“Members that have been trained here become our
ambassadors, our champions, to fight corruption which is a scourge which has
affected me and you and the nation.”
Director of risk and loss control and research, Ms Getrude
Gudu, said: “I am so glad that I signed the integrity pledge because I know
that from today onwards, I will try by all means to practice good integrity at
my workplace and at home. Basically I’ll try by all means, especially the
workplace, to also educate and try by all means to create awareness for all the
stakeholders and other departments, especially people or employees who are at
the university.”
Manicaland State University of Applied Sciences
representative, Mr Jeff Chisvingo said: “We are going to do processes above
board. It’s an eye-opener. We are going to be managing this in various sections
of the university to ensure that we reduce corruption. We want to reduce it to
zero.”
ZACC Commissioner Fungayi Jessie Majome said ZACC was able
to interact with mainly State universities from the western and northern
region, as well as private universities such as the Women’s University in
Africa and the Reformed Church University.
“We are glad that our tertiary education sector has
embraced this way of doing things and, accompanying that, is the opportunity
for officials themselves to personally and voluntarily and publicly take an
integrity pledge by which they vow that they will conduct themselves in
everything that they do with integrity,” she said.
“The integrity pledge helps in a real way so this is why we
are hoping to see maybe more institutions in the public and private arena
taking the integrity pledge because it makes the difference from just talking
about ending corruption to getting a personal commitment and taking an oath.”
Comm Mjome added that they want employers in Zimbabwe to be
comfortable that when they are recruiting a graduate from a Zimbabwean
university, they are certain that because those universities have taken on and
ingrained integrity in their outlook and in their culture, “we are certain that
our qualifications are true and we are certain that our graduates are also
marketable outside”.
“Of course we want them to work here but also it will be
certain that we will be able to attract students and teaching staff from the
best of the world so that they also come to Zimbabwe that can only be better
and better.
“So this is what we are doing here and it is where I have
no doubt that in five years’ time, because this is what we are doing here, it
is like planting the seed of a tree. It will grow and the fruit will be
harvested and in five years’ time, ten years’ time, the seed that has been
planted here will be seen to be bearing fruit for the benefit of Zimbabwe in
terms of giving a real and practical chance to rid ourselves of corruption.
“So we’re definitely on the right track in setting back
things on track regarding what is right and what is wrong so that integrity
becomes the order of the day. The values that have been turned upside down will
get the right side up and our country can attain the national development
strategy scores, and particularly to remove the barrier that can stop us from
attaining the middle income economy status by 2030,” she said.
They are expected to strengthen good governance through
institutionalising the fight against corruption.
The pledges are also expected to enable the implementation
of an institutionally tailored Corruption Prevention Action Plan focusing on
interventions aimed at reducing opportunities for corruption. Herald
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