Chronicle Editor
Rumbidzayi Zinyuke, Harare Bureau
IN a move meant to bolster transparency and accountability, more than 100 government officials yesterday signed Integrity Pledges to reaffirm their commitment to fight corruption as a central element in achieving the nation’s Vision 2030 goals.
The signing ceremony, held in Harare and overseen by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC), saw chief directors and directors from various Ministries pledge to play a role in preventing and fighting corruption.
Integrity Pledges are social contracts through which individuals affirm their commitment to act against corruption.
Individuals are expected to conduct themselves honestly and openly in all aspects, abiding by the law and always espousing ethical principles.
Public Service Commission Secretary Dr Tsitsi Choruma, in a speech read on her behalf by General Manager-Talent Management, Ms Grace Machakaire, said chief directors and directors had been chosen to lead the fight against corruption from the front.
“The Anti-Corruption Strategy committee mooted the idea of the Integrity Pledge to foreground the eradication of corruption in all sectors of the economy. We were mindful of the critical need to rid the Public Service of all forms of malfeasance since its members are at the forefront of delivering services to citizens and therefore exposed to the vice.
“We are enjoined to sign the Integrity Pledge because the Government of Zimbabwe declared zero tolerance to corruption which can only be attained by taking bold behavioural and symbolic steps such as we are taking today,” she said.
The fight against corruption is a critical pillar of Zimbabwe’s Vision 2030, which aims to transform the nation into an upper-middle-income society.
Experts believe that by rooting out corruption, Government can create a more favourable environment for investment, economic growth, and sustainable development.
Dr Choruma said the first step in the process of cascading the Integrity Pledge would be the establishment of Integrity Committees in each Ministry, which would spearhead the prevention of corruption and related maladministration within their respective parastatals, state owned enterprises, Government departments, Ministries and agencies.
ZACC commissioner Ndakaripa Hungwe said the integrity pledges were not a panacea to corruption but a starting point in ensuring behavioural change that would prevent the social ill.
“We realised that we cannot fight corruption on our own as ZACC but we needed to ensure that institutions are also part of that fight. We wanted to see how we could come up with programmes to plug cruption and close all those loopholes allowing people to engage in corrupt practices.
“Integrity Pledges become one of the tools to fight corruption, it’s a continuous programme when you are dealing with corruption.
“The prevention aspect is what we are concentrating on because we are saying we cannot keep arresting people because that is not a deterrent. The real deterrent is for a person to sign an integrity pledge, which is a social contract with themselves to say I want to do things differently, to serve my country, serve my people and meet the goals of the NDS1 to make sure that our country is a developed country,” she said.
Ms Hungwe said corruption should not continue to be a drawback in the achievement of national development goals and called upon all citizens to actively avoid corruption for a better Zimbabwe for future generations.
To facilitate the achievement of zero tolerance to corruption, Integrity Pledges have been seen as one of the key measures to fight corruption through promotion of high standards of ethical behaviour and good corporate governance as it heavily relies on voluntary individual vows.
They are expected to strengthen good governance through institutionalising the fight against corruption.
The pledges are also expected to enable the implementation of an institutionally tailored Corruption Prevention Action Plan focusing on interventions aimed at reducing opportunities for corruption.
Online Reporter