The Sunday News
Judith Phiri, Sunday News Reporter
OVER 60 officials from various local authorities in Matabeleland North have signed integrity pledges during an Integrity Committees training by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC).
Integrity pledges are non-binding social contracts through which individuals make commitments to act against corruption.
The Integrity Pledges were signed by officials from Hwange, Binga, Bubi, Umguza, Nkayi, Tsholotsho and Kusile RDCs.
The officials included the chief executive officers (CEOs) for the RDCs, the heads of various departments within the local authorities and members of the Integrity Committees.
Presiding over the signing of the Integrity Pledges in Bulawayo on Thursday, Commissioner Jessie Majome commended the voluntary commitment by the RDCs to be trained on how to minimise risks of corruption in their institutions.
She said: “Indeed, this is a positive response by Matabeleland North Local Authorities to the national call, through the National Anti- Corruption Strategy and indeed our incessant call as ZACC to organisations in both public and private sectors, to establish integrity committees for the prevention of corruption in their institutions.”
Commissioner Majome said ZACC as an institution was constitutionally mandated to take a leading role in the fight against corruption in both public and private sectors, and presently seized with the pursuit of National Development Strategy (NDS1) objectives and attainment of Vision 2030.
She said the training that will be imparted to the local authorities of Matabeleland North will help to strengthen the Integrity Committee’s skills, knowledge and experience in running the committee in order to successfully fight the vice of corruption within the organisation.
“I therefore, urge the local authorities of Matabeleland North to play their role of preventing corruption through the promotion of good ethical practices in their organisations and most importantly to, as we must all, refuse, reject and report corruption,” she added.
The RDCs said they stood ready to cooperate and collaborate with ZACC in the fight against graft, adding that corruption free Matabeleland North was crucial in ensuring the success of the devolution agenda.
Integrity Committees are established within organisations to serve as internal mechanisms for combating corruption within their sphere of influence.
ZACC is training Integrity Committees for three days on corruption risk assessment and development of action plans.
The Integrity Committees are expected to submit quarterly reports to ZACC and report cases of corruption to relevant enforcement authorities like the Commission itself, the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority and the Zimbabwe Republic Police.
The establishment of Integrity Committees is in line with the implementation of United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) strategies to prevent corruption and the strategy seeks to promote integrity, transparency, and accountability in governance by involving citizens and society in the fight.
