adminKuthula Matshazi The Flip-side
THE vigorous, rapid responses from Government ministries suggest that corrupt practices became prevalent in state-owned enterprises because of weak oversight. It is likely that if ministers had taken earlier the hands-on, no-nonsense approach to the scourge demonstrated recently, the rampant corruption would have been curbed.
It is clear that corruption is not confined to a few SEOs, but it is perverse and has become structural; it is now an integral part of the public administration system.
Some civil servants have contaminated the system with stealing and subverting tender procedures, awarding themselves obscene salaries, avoiding paying income tax, etc.
Combined, these vices have diverted large amounts of scarce resources from the Government leaving it facing serious challenges, in public service delivery.
The biggest worry about this scourge is that the people involved are the ones tasked with the responsibility of being stewards of public resources. What we have recently seen is similar to a guard breaking into premises he/she is guarding.
As a country that is under economic sanctions, it is common knowledge that we cannot afford to provide decent public services with such pervasive corruption. As discovered now, ministries have been struggling to fully implement their mandates because of the massive diversion of resources to corruption.
The economic sanctions are a factor in resource constraints, but we also need to have introspection on how the daily conduct of senior managers of SEOs undermines the optimum utilisation of public resources intended for public services.
The ministers should shoulder the responsibility of what is happening within their SEOs and take strong appropriate action, which prevents senior managers from stealing public resources. The prominent actions taken by ministers, such as Information Minister Prof.
Jonathan Moyo at the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation and Dr. Obert Mpofu at Transport and Infrastructural Development provide evidence of effective and swift action expected by the public.
On Tuesday, Dr. Mpofu issued a 48 hour ultimatum to the SEOs under his ministry to provide him with salary details and individual bank details of their Chief Executive Officers, as well as, any existing secret payrolls.
Of course, it will not be enough just identifying corruption, making arrests or firing the culprits. There is a need to be vigilant on an ongoing basis to ensure oversight that allows continuous efficiency, effectiveness and public scrutiny in the process of delivering on ministries’ mandates. It’s important to always prevent rather than react to loss of public resources.
At this stage, it is difficult to fight corruption, but not impossible. It is the responsibility of each minister to curb corruption within SEOs under their ministry and ensure the existence of ongoing efficient and effective systems that allow the ministries to deliver on their mandate.
The reason for emphasizing this point is that there is an established pattern where ministers appoint boards of their own choice upon assuming responsibility of a ministry. Yet, at the end of the ministers’ terms there are no performance reviews that happen or, at least, that the public knows. When new ministers come in, one of their first priorities is usually to replace the existing boards, who they believe are not working effectively to deliver on the ministry’s mandate.
The ministers appoint people who will help them deliver on the mandate of their respective ministries. Usually, the ministers retain the same boards until the end of their terms or that of the boards, suggesting that they are satisfied with the work they are doing.
However, when a new minister is appointed, they usually find that the boards appointed by the previous minister are not or were not working to his/her expectations, as is the case with Energy Minister Dzikamai Mavhaire, when he dismissed boards under his ministry.
The new minister then appoints new boards of his/her choice. Now, the problem of the previous minister is laid at the feet of the new minister, while the previous minister is not held accountable for the problems that happened under his/her watch.
Online Reporter