Tuesday, 27 February 2024

100 GOVT DIRECTORS PLEDGE TO FIGHT RAMPANT CORRUPTION

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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