‘Hire people registered with professional bodies’

THE Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) has urged public institutions to recruit personnel who are registered with their respective professional association as a way to promote integrity in workspaces.

Zacc made the call during a capacity-building workshop held in Bulawayo on Thursday, which was meant to capacitate rural district councils (RDCs) with information that will help them to set up integrity committees.

The event was attended by officials from different RDCs in Matabeleland South.
In an interview with Business Chronicle, Zacc spokesperson Commissioner Thandiwe Mlobane said having workers registered with professional associations will help to promote integrity and professionalism, which will bring credibility to different institutions.

Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc)

“It is necessary and critical for all professionals within a local authority or any public institution to be members of a professional body,” said Comm Mlobane.

“This promotes professional ethics and in the event that someone does something that is unethical they can be deregistered by the associations that they belong to.”

“It actually enhances professionalism and that is what also the country’s Constitution requires that there be professionalism and professional ethics practiced.”

Comm Mlobane noted that in institutions where integrity is entrenched, there is less corruption.
She said corruption in the country is not as rampant as the majority think but there is a need to promote integrity in public institutions.

“We have observed a number of reported corruption cases, some of them have been brought to finality, but I would say that they are not so prevalent as to warrant to say Zimbabwe is a corrupt country.

“Our institutions are not as strong as they should be and they will be stronger if they only implement the Auditor General’s recommendations,” said the Commissioner.

“Within the Auditor General’s Recommendations, there are some red flags that have been raised, so we are observing that the implementation of the recommendations is not as high as it should be and so we are encouraging public institutions to implement the recommendations.”

She said according to the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRA), the complaint rate by public institutions is not very high and the submission rate of returns that Praz requires is also low which exposes institutions to corruption risks without anyone who is addressing it.

Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ)

“If the institutions implemented the Auditor General’s Recommendations, that would strengthen those institutions and therefore reduce corruption,” she said.

The establishment of integrity committees and making sure that the committees are fully operationalised is one of the Auditor General’s Recommendations as well as giving feedback to Zacc twice a year on what actions are being taken to prevent corruption.-chronicle