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Blessing Chafesuka
From the Town Clerk’s Desk
LOCAL authorities in Zimbabwe have been at the centre of alleged corruption cases resulting in residents and stakeholders losing confidence in how public resources are being managed in this sector.
Several high profile arrests have been made, wherein those implicated stand accused of varying cases of corruption.
As a result, Zimbabwe Anti- Corruption Commission(ZACC) has been on a drive to institute programmes aimed at significantly reducing corruption in all Government institutions.
Mutare City Council participated in these corruption prevention activities. One such prominent intervention in this endeavour was the introduction of integrity committees in public institutions.
ZACC urged public institutions to establish integrity committees. City of Mutare is among the institutions that has embraced the call by ZACC to establish the Integrity Committee, and as a city, it has the obligation to support national programmes relating to fighting corruption at every level.
City Of Mutare’s management in February 2023 established the Integrity Committee, with members drawn from the different departments.
The committee is made up of middle level employees, headed by the Internal Audit Manager.
With the help of ZACC, the committee was trained and inducted to appreciate its roles and responsibility in the fight against corruption.
The training for the committee included senior and executive management in order to facilitate common understanding of its operations and to ensure full support for the committee as it discharges its mandate as given.
The Integrity Committee has the responsibility of spearheading the prevention of corruption and related malpractices or maladministration in the management of public resources and provision of public services as expected of public institutions at every level.
There have been several complaints pointing to corruption in council’s activities, mainly in the following areas :land allocations
municipal policing activities
meter reading and billing activities
parking activities
procurement activities
The key functions of the integrity committeee include:·
To promote transparency and minimise opportunities for corruption by spearheading and facilitating the process of corruption prevention.
·Instituting Corruption Prevention Action Plan.
The plans and strategies are directed on interventions that are targeted at reducing opportunities for reducing corruption.
·Provide an efficient and transparent monitoring and reporting mechanism to expose unethical conduct and corruption.
·Receive, consider, and provide redress overall complaints from within and outside.
·Refer all complaints that are beyond the committee’s competencies to the appropriate body for remedy.
· Prepare quarterly reports for submission to ZACC, highlighting progress made in the implementation of the Action Plan.
During the first training of the committee by ZACC’s Compliance and Prevention Section which was held on February 15, 2023, the committee was challenged to spearhead policy formulation in order to be appropriately guided in the day-to-day functioning of the committee.
A number of policies as recommended by ZACC have since been formulated and formerly adopted by Council.
To ensure the smooth functioning of the integrity committee, council adopted the Integrity Committee Charter.
The intention of this Charter is not to replace any applicable governing legislation or regulations and this Charter will not replace the functions of internal audit function, but rather compliment like efforts in the fight against corruption.
The main objectives of the charter are:
Outline the operations of the Integrity Committee
Assist members in the discharge of their responsibilities
Seeks to delineate the roles and responsibilities of the Committee from that of the Audit Committee
Separate roles from management in order to regulate its activities in accordance with principles of good corporate governance and best practices.
Further to that, the Integrity Committee is a cross-functional committee eestablished to administer and oversee the council’s ethics and compliance matters including:
• Assessing the council’s ethical culture (including its Code of Conduct) and ensuring that the highest ethical standards are followed
• Monitoring compliance with the Council’s Code of Conduct (the Code) and devaluating transactions or activities which could be in breach of the council’s code or other applicable legal compliance requirements
• Receiving, reviewing and, where applicable, coordinating the investigation of anonymous reports or other complaints/concerns received via the council’s established whistle-blower channels
• Providing support to help employees resolve ethical dilemmas and comply with the council’s code and applicable laws
• Meeting with the management and audit committee, and providing quarterly updates in relation to ethical matters including code breaches
In addition, City of Mutare adopted the Anti-fraud and Corruption Policy which is essential to ensure that management, employees, and all stakeholders act with integrity and comply with applicable laws and regulations.
City of Mutare is committed to the highest standards of honesty, transparency and accountability.
The city has zero tolerance to fraud, corruption, bribery and other dishonest behaviours.
This policy outlines the city’s approach to prevent, detect and address fraud and corruption issues.
It aims to promote a culture of integrity, transparency and good governance.
The purpose of this policy is to safeguard the city’s assets and resources, protect public funds, and maintain public trust and confidence in the city administration.
The policy applies to all City of Mutare employees, elected officials, contractors, consultants and volunteers.
It covers fraudulent and corrupt acts in all the city’s operations, including procurement, finances, operations, projects and programmes.
The guiding principles being:
· Zero tolerance to fraud, corruption and related misconduct· Promote values of honesty, integrity, accountability and transparency· Comply with relevant anti-corruption laws and ensure good governance·
Protect whistle-blowers and maintain confidentiality of reports·
Treat all complaints seriously, conduct independent investigations and take appropriate actions
The Whistle-blower Policy is intended to ensure that City of Mutare’s integrity is acknowledged and maintained to high standards.
This Whistle-blowing Policy for City of Mutare was crafted in tandem with the National Whistle-blowing Policy, as such where there is conflict between the two policies, the National Whistle-blowing Policy will take precedence.
The policy is aimed to:
• Encourage employees and others with serious concerns about any aspect of the Council’s work to feel confident to come forward and voice those concerns
• Raise concerns at an early stage and in the right way, ensuring that critical information gets to the people who need to know and who are able to take action
• Safeguard and reassure those who raise concerns in the public interest and not maliciously or for personal gain, that they can do so, whether these are subsequently proven wrong or right
• Set out how the Council will respond to allegations made and enable them to get feedback on any action taken
• State who will receive the reports, follow-up and outline who may have access to information
Other policies that were adopted by City of Mutare to ensure that there is integrity and that the Integrity Committee operates efficiently and effectively include the following:
i) Conflict of interest Policy
ii) Donation Policy
iii )Gift Policyiv Cyber Security Policy
v) Clients Service Charter
vi) Stakeholder Engagement Policy
The city is now embarking on an aggressive awareness campaign to sensitise customers, residents and stakeholders and bring awareness to all on how the integrity committee functions and how they can play their role in combating corruption through this initiative.
NB- This article is part of council initiative to publicise this new development and to invite all stakeholders and interested parties to give their input in making the process more vibrant and useful in combating corruption and fraud. Copies of the above policies are available for public scrutiny and input to make them better.
The Integrity Committee reports shall be submitted quarterly to ZACC for review and further action.
Any members of the public with any corruption cases should report to the following contacts which are only accessible to the integrity committee: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> – WhatsApp+263773381263
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