Online Reporter
Thupeyo Muleya
Beitbridge Bureau
SCORES of public officials deployed by the Government to Beitbridge district have on Tuesday signed the Integrity Pledges (IP) at a programme facilitated by the Public Service Commission (PSC) and the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC).
ZACC is continuously carrying out multi-stakeholder awareness campaigns nationwide, including border towns, targeting border agencies, travellers, and citizens to combat corruption.
This initiative aims to address concerns over rent-seeking activities and leakages of banned goods at the Beitbridge border post, which affect revenue collection.
Among those who signed the pledge are officials from the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra), Immigration, Vehicle Inspectorate Department, parastatals and local authorities, among others.
In Beitbridge, the Government is targeting to have at least 400 of its workers sign the pledges as it rolls out the programme in phases.
The first phase involving senior managers was carried out in the area last year.
ZACC provincial manager for Matabeleland South, Mr Albert Midzi, said during the signing ceremony that Zimbabwe came up with the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS), which was launched by President Mnangagwa in July 2020.
He said the integrity committees and signing of integrity pledges fall under NACS pillar number 3, which focuses mainly on the prevention of corruption.
“As part of the implementation of NACS, ZACC is advocating for the signing of the integrity pledge by public and private sector employees,” said Mr Midzi.
“We also advocated for the establishment of Integrity Committees (IC) in parastatals, state-owned enterprises, government departments, ministries and agencies, as well as the private sector.
“The Integrity Pledge is a document that provides a set of positive principles and values to guide ethical conduct, including integrity, honesty, objectivity, impartiality, professionalism, transparency, accountability, courtesy and humility.”
He highlighted that the Government had declared zero tolerance to corruption and that the Integrity pledges and integrity committees were some of the key measures to fight corruption through voluntary individual and institutional promotion of high standards of ethical behaviour and good Corporate Governance.
Mr Midzi added that the initiative was one of the best practices adopted from countries that have embraced integrity pledges and integrity committees in their Anti-corruption efforts, which have led to phenomenal changes in ethical behaviour and reduction in corruption.
Some of the countries, he said, include Denmark, Singapore, Sweden, Japan and China, among others.
“This is a clarion call to all citizens to commit to acting in an honest, transparent and accountable manner at all times said Mr Midzi.
“The signing and commitment to integrity pledges and establishment of integrity committees is envisaged to instill good ethics, foster trust, credibility, honesty, promote fairness, transparency and accountability.”
