Online Reporter
Farirai Machivenyika-Senior Reporter
GOVERNANCE-RELATED irregularities in State-owned enterprises and parastatals declined 29 percent last year as compliance with corporate governance standards improved following interventions by the Corporate Governance Unit, Auditor-General Mrs Vimbai Chikwenhere has reported.
She gave the findings in her 2025 report, which was tabled in the National Assembly yesterday.
The Auditor General examined corporate governance, revenue collection and debt recovery, asset management, procurement of goods and services, employment practices and service delivery across public entities.
“There was a decrease in reported governance issues from 319 in 2024 to 222 in 2025, representing a moderate relative decline of 29 percent after adjusting for differences in the number of reports submitted between the two years.
“The decrease points to improvements following the efforts that the Corporate Governance Unit made in ensuring that public entities comply with the requirements of the Public Entities Corporate Governance Act.
“This resulted in entities addressing issues such as developing relevant policies, standard operating procedure manuals, performance evaluation of the board of directors, as well as signing performance agreements for executives,” she said.
Mrs Chikwenhere commended Government efforts, through the Corporate Governance Unit, to strengthen oversight of public entities, including follow-ups on the holding of annual general meetings, which contributed to improved submission of financial statements.
While noting progress in corporate governance, she said many challenges remained, including failure by some entities to align their policies with applicable legislation, non-compliance with corporate governance frameworks on board remuneration and weaknesses in internal control systems.
Mrs Chikwenhere said entities in the financial sector continued to face challenges linked to high levels of non-performing loans and undercapitalisation.
She also expressed concern over the late submission, or non-submission, of financial statements by some public entities.
“The late or non-submission of financial statements created gaps for accountability and delayed the commencement of audits.
“Public entities such as Zimpost, Zupco and New Ziana were in significant arrears,” Mrs Chikwenhere said.
The report also recorded a slight increase in issues related to revenue collection and debt recovery, from 26 findings in 2024 to 28 in 2025.
She said the findings in respect of revenue collection and debt recovery increased from 26 in 2024 to 28 in 2025, representing a moderate relative increase of 9 percent after adjusting for differences in the number of reports submitted.
“Revenue leakages and long-outstanding debts persisted, contributing to a net liability position and posing a threat to the sustainability of service delivery. “Additionally, some entities failed to adequately account for deposits, resulting in delays in receipting funds, largely due to inadequate efforts to sensitise customers on the importance of providing accurate and complete deposit details,” Mrs Chikwenhere said.
On procurement, the Auditor-General reported significant improvement, with irregularities declining from 29 cases in 2024 to 11 in 2025.
“Reported issues under this category declined from 29 in 2024 to 11 in 2025, representing a commendable relative decrease of 62 percent after adjusting for differences in the number of accounts reported between the two years,” she said.
Despite the progress, Mrs Chikwenhere said some entities were still failing to comply with the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act.
She said these entities continued to bypass formal competitive bidding procedures by using direct procurement or requests for quotations for high-value items, routinely failed to obtain at least three competitive quotations, awarded contracts to higher bidders without documented justification, and operated evaluation committees without formal declarations of interest.
The Auditor-General said such practices undermined transparency, accountability and value for money in the management of public resources.
