Involve citizens to fight corruption

Thembelihle Ntukili, Sunday News Reporter
THE Government has been urged to involve citizens in public financial management, as one of the key steps of curbing corruption in public procurement processes.

Speaking during a dialogue on addressing corruption gaps and challenges in public procurement hosted by the Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ) last week, Public Policy and Research Institute of Zimbabwe founder and director Dr Gorden Moyo said involvement of citizens was key in curbing corruption.

“There is need for the Government to involve the citizens in what happens to the public financial management processes so they know when to step up, take a stand and raise issues of corruption. Procurement is a critical aspect of economy, it accounts for five percent of jurisdiction and it affects job opportunities in the country including service delivery and the livelihoods of the people and it should be addressed to reduce the inevitable events of corruption,” said Dr Moyo.

He said a collaborative effort was needed to raise issues of corruption in public procurement to ensure that procedures and guidelines meant to ensure a fair process that provide value for money, are followed.

Bulawayo City Council procurement manager, Mr Mlungelwa Khumalo said public works were prone to high rates of corruption due to the huge sums of money involved.

“There is a lot of money involved in public works, which is prone to high rate of corruption. There is an act which helps the procurement process to be done in a manner that is transparent, honest as it is not possible to avoid corruption,” said Mr Khumalo.

He said if there were tenders, they would be advertised in platforms where almost everyone can access them to avoid high rate of corruption.

An activist, Mr Effie Ncube said in Bulawayo there was need for people with integrity in high places to have less corruption.

“Corrupt people should be pointed out and punished accordingly to show that corruption is not to be tolerated and independent civil servants to be in charge and lead in offices to work for the people and maintain transparency in their work,” said Mr Ncube.

The event was attended by councillors, activists, Bulawayo City Council officials and the participants noted that there was poor delivery of public service which exposes corruption.