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Remember Deketeke recently in Mvurwi
Members of local authorities from Mashonaland Central on Monday signed integrity pledges to reaffirm their commitment to combating and ending corruption while strengthening transparency and accountability.
The signing ceremony, held in Mvurwi and overseen by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC), saw rural district chairpersons, council chief executive officers, urban mayors and town clerks from the eight districts in the province, pledging to play a role in preventing and fighting corruption.
Integrity pledges are social contracts through which individuals affirm their commitment to act against corruption.
Local Government and Public Works Deputy Minister Benjamin Kabikira, who was represented by the director of local authorities in his ministry Mr Mike Mazai, said integrity pledges are there to augment the Call to Action Plan launched by the President.
“Indeed, this, to me, is indicative of the collaborative thrust between the Ministry and ZACC toward the fight against corruption in our sector and the country at large,” he said.
By setting this example as the superintending Ministry, Deputy Minister Kabikira said this ensured that local authorities followed through on the commitment with concrete action so that the ministry mitigated and addressed the fundamental factors in the fight against corruption.
Deputy Minister Kabikira said the integrity pledges are not just on paper. “An upper middle-income status requires men and women of high moral standing particularly for those of us in the public sector. Our citizens have become more discerning and demanding in terms of accountability and value for money in the use of public resources,” he said.
Addressing the gathering yesterday, ZACC chairperson Mr Michael Reza said ZACC would see to it that the Call to Action blueprint was implemented. “The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission stands ready to collaborate with the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works to ensure that the local authorities “Call to Action” blueprint is implemented in a corruption-free manner,” he said.
“In view of that, I would like to urge all local authorities to give maximum support to the integrity committees for them to play an effective oversight role on the operations in order to mitigate failures.
“Integrity committee members are not just watchdogs, they are champions of ethics, role models for their peers, and catalysts for positive change within organisations.”
This programme comes at a time when the nation is looking forward to the positive outcomes from the local authorities’ call to action blueprint launched in November last year by President Mnangagwa.
Online Reporter