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The Herald, July 6, 1990
THREE senior officials of the SADCC secretariat in Botswana have been dismissed for alleged financial mismanagement, a spokesperson for the nine-nation grouping said from Gaborone yesterday.
He told The Herald in a telephone interview that the officers from Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique had been fired by Botswana’s Vice President Peter Mmusi on recommendation from the SADCC executive secretary, Dr Simba Makoni.
Mr Mmusi had taken the action in his capacity as chairman of the SADCC Council of Ministers.
“In early January this year, indications were received in the secretariat of possible improper conduct in the management and control of secretariat finances.
“An internal investigation was undertaken by senior secretariat staff, which established that procedures and regulations on financial management and controls were not being followed,” the spokesman said.
Auditors were engaged to carry out further investigations and it was discovered that the three officers made many purchases without following the set procedures.
Over a year, private goods and services were procured for staff on SADCC orders. Private purchases totalling more than $25 000 were initially paid for by SADCC, but were subsequently recovered by deductions from staff from the staff salaries.
The sacked officials had been named as Cde Charles Mwakalumbwa from Tanzania, a finance officer; Cde Wisdom Bowa of Zambia, an administrative officer; and, Cde Candido Sitole from Mozambique, an administrative assistant. They were dismissed on June 27.
It had taken a long time to detect the malpractices by the men because of the trust the executive secretary had in his senior staff.
They had been allowed to make all purchases of the organisation in good faith, the spokesman said.
Although there was no embezzlement of funds, there were serious breaches of the organisation’s procedures and regulations. The breaches could easily have been exploited to the detriment of SADCC.
Appropriate disciplinary measures had been taken against the officers in accordance with the organisation’s rules of conduct and discipline. To avoid a repetition of the same in future, and in accordance with the recommendation of the investigation, a number of measures had been taken.
LESSONS FOR TODAY
There is a saying by Stephen Covey: “Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.” Unfortunately, most of us are founding in the trust matrix.
Corruption is a cancer, eating away Africa’s developmental goals. Like terrorism, corruption is the people’s number one enemy.
Governments, the private sector and NGOs have lost billions of dollars through corrupt practices. However, the major victims of corruption are ordinary citizens who lose job opportunities; infrastructure development; better social services like health, water and sanitation.
Abuse of office has also become so rampant in many organisations, with some people resorting to name dropping in order to achieve their nefarious actions.
Procurement is one of the channels used by corrupt people. In most cases, the procurement is made from briefcase businesspeople, who are part of the procurement process.
Politician and businessman Dr Simba Makoni was the first executive secretary, who served for 10 years on a rotational post.
Online Reporter