The Sunday Mail
The Office of the President and Cabinet has stepped in to assist investigators handling corruption cases involving officials at State and quasi-Government departments. This comes after the 2013 Comptroller and Auditor-General’s Report disclosed rampant maladministration and abuse of public funds. To date, the OPC has drawn up reports on some outstanding cases and forwarded them to the Civil Service Commission and other relevant State departments.
Permanent secretaries — as chief executives of Government ministries — are answerable for any wrongdoing in portfolios under their jurisdiction, according to performance-based contracts introduced in 2013. Heads of parastatals, State enterprises and councils also face similar scrutiny. Responding to written inquiries from The Sunday Mail, OPC Chief Secretary Dr Misheck Sibanda said it was clear some cases were criminal, adding that the OPC would assist in taking action.
“Matters of a fraudulent nature are obviously criminal and if these matters are reported to the Office they are naturally submitted to the employer, who, in this case, is the Civil Service Commission, for actioning. The Press has of late been awash with cases of the nature you are referring to. The issues have been referred to the relevant authorities for actioning and prosecution. The State is the complainant as it is the custodian of the public goods and services on behalf of the people of Zimbabwe.”
Dr Sibanda said contracts signed between the OPC and permanent secretaries regularise punishment of officials found guilty of misconduct.
He disclosed that follow-ups are being made on those yet to sign these contracts. “The permanent secretary as accounting officer and custodian of the financial, material and human resources is expected to utilise these resources to achieve the mandate of the ministry of which he is the chief executive. Each ministry has clearly defined terms of reference which are discussed between the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet and the relevant permanent secretary and by signing this contract agree on the specified terms of reference.”
He added: “These terms become the focal point for measuring the performance of the permanent secretary. The current situation is that all Senior Government officials including those in State enterprises, parastatals and local authorities are required to sign performance contracts which are reviewed annually. Information at hand indicates that in the majority of cases, these contracts have been signed. Follow-ups are being made on those that have not submitted theirs for scrutiny.” Corruption has been identified among major impediments to development.
The 2013 Comptroller and Auditor-General’s Report cited 22 ministries for poor corporate governance, abuse of fund accounts and flouting procurement procedures. Last month, four senior officials in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development were arrested for allegedly defrauding the ministry of US$800 000 by generating fake invoices for non-existent companies. Mary Takavarasha (acting finance director); Stanley Zharare (external finance deputy director); Varaidzo Margaret Chirahwi (senior economist) and Jacob Forgive Mlambo (accountant) allegedly colluded with several accomplices, including convicted fraudsters.
At the 21st February Movement celebrations in Victoria Falls a fortnight ago, President Mugabe condemned graft in Government departments.
“(Finance Minister) Cde Chinamasa is struggling to mobilise finances for agriculture or resuscitating our factories. The money is put in banks for distribution, but those under him create fraudulent companies behind his back. They then direct the Government to transfer the money to those companies. Ava veku bank vari kungoti tiri kuita zviri kudiwa neministry. Uyu ndidirector ari kuti titransfer our money. Havarambe. Voisa mari ikoko. Yaenda mari ikoko vaakunogovana. Ndovamwe vatakabata musi uno. Ndovamwe chete, ko vamwe vatisati tabata? Baba iwe-e”
He went on: “So, what kind of people should we appoint? A director in the Ministry of Finance who must exercise utmost honesty . . . If you are an accountant, you are not taught those skills in order for you to go out and steal and if you are not honest, if you are a liar, then you are anti-revolutionary.”
