adminInstitute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators in Zimbabwe annual conference banquet held at the Elephant Hills Hotel in Victoria Falls at the weekend.
The runner-up was the Permanent Secretary for Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Dr Stephen Mahere.
ICSAZ chief executive Mr Farai Musamba read a citation that detailed Mrs Chiri’s contributions in 2010.
The citation pointed out that after the introduction of the multi-currencies, her office embarked on the audit of the first quarter of 2009 in order to give the Government early warning signs about the nature of accounting being practised so that corrective measures could be taken, if need be.
Her report was tabled in Parliament towards the end of 2009 and was deliberated on by the Public Accounts Committee for most of 2010.
The report revealed that Government was suffering from the residues of speculative economic behaviour together with rent seeking behaviour that had swept the country in the years leading to 2009.
In addition, the report highlighted cases of improper allocation of Government property among ministry officials, mismanagement of revenue, unauthorised barter trade and payment of salaries to employees who were improperly recruited or had already left the Government service.
The compilation of the report was conducted under difficult conditions when resources were low, remuneration was a mere token and there were no incentives for staff. After receiving the audit report, the Public Accounts Committee interrogated all accounting officers whose ministries were affected and ministry officials undertook to implement remedial changes.
Mrs Chiri’s report is yielding the desired results, the citation said, because from 2010 up to date, a positive attitude and approach by Government officials in fostering public accountability had been noticed.
It took a lot of courage to produce such a report that went against the grain as it were, by speaking against established and adopted distorted ethical norms embraced by the Zimbabwean society during the hyperinflationary era, it said.
The citation also mentioned that Mrs Chiri’s office continued to follow up on the weaknesses identified by the 2009 report and visited provincial and district offices which had last been audited five to six years back due to resource constraints.
Other reports produced in 2010 by Mrs Chiri’s office include the 2008 annual report, two value for money audit reports on the Zimbabwe National Roads Authority, which related to the use of grants for road construction by local authorities. She also did a report on the CMED (Pvt) Ltd’s management of Government vehicles.
The runner-up, Dr Mahere, led the recovery of the primary and secondary education system in Zimbabwe after the serious challenges and effects of the economic meltdown that had a negative impact on education service delivery from 2007 to 2009.
In 2010, his ministry, with assistance from the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), produced 17 million textbooks and distributed them to all the country’s primary schools.
Mr Mahere and his senior management team also developed a five-year medium term strategic plan for 2011 to 2015 that focuses on strategic objectives such as the restoration of the professional status of teachers.
Online Reporter