Farai Mabeza, Senior Staff Writer 
THE Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) says there is gross non-compliance with the Auditor-General (AG)’s reports by public institutions, creating widespread opportunities for acts of theft and fraud.
This comes after a report last week said Zimbabwe slid marginally on the 2021 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index, scoring 23 out of 100, from a mark of 24 recorded in 2020.
Mildred Chiri, Zimbabwe’s auditor general
The 2021 score is below the sub-Saharan Africa average of 33. The country’s global ranking also fell by one position to 157 out of 180.
It also comes as Zacc has been trading barbs with the Prosecutor General’s office over a poor conviction rate for corruption suspects.
“The AG’s reports over the years have reflected the position of corruption in the public sector.
“Year after year it shows poor or lack of controls in public institutions, creating a ready opportunity for public officials to engage in acts of corruption, fraud, theft, money laundering and other offences.
“These controls are clearly elucidated in the Acts of Parliament and several Treasury instructions sent out from time to time. Despite all this, it is disturbing that the AG reports, which list the misdemeanours, have not received the serious attention they deserve from the audited institutions,” Zacc deputy chairperson Kuziva Murapa said during the inaugural accounting and financial reporting seminar for independent commissions last week.
“I say so because internal audit reports received from some public institutions on implementation of the AG’s recommendations revealed gross non-compliance with the implementation of the … recommendations”.
According to Murapa, non-implementation of the AG’s recommendations has seen millions of dollars of undelivered goods identified in the audits not being followed up or recovered.
“This resulted in a huge loss to the public entity and the taxpayers who fund these entities,” he said.
“The AG’s reports are replete with cases of flagrant abuse of public funds under the pretext of donations, where public entities made numerous payments towards activities that were totally out of sync with the institutions’ line of operations.
“As Zacc, we have received reports of cases of such shameless abuse of public funds, some of which are before the courts.
“Little or no action had been taken by the concerned institutions to pre-empt repetition of such activities in line with the AG’s recommendations,” Murapa added.
He cited provisions of the Constitution of Zimbabwe that spell out prudent administration and management of public funds.
“Part 1 of Chapter 17 of the Constitution provides for comprehensive principles on public financial management, which guide all aspects of public finance in Zimbabwe, which finance directors and managers of public entities are also obliged to adhere to.
“Section 298 (a) makes it clear that there must be transparency and accountability in financial matters. Section 298(d) provides that public funds must be expended transparently, prudently, economically and effectively,” he said.
“Additionally, Part 4 of the Constitution is critical to financial managers of public institutions as it prescribes safeguarding of public funds and property. Section 308 (2) provides that, and I quote: ‘It is the duty of every person who is responsible for the expenditure of public funds to safeguard the funds and ensure that they are spent only on legally authorised purposes and in legally authorised amounts”.
Zacc said it would escalate the establishment of integrity committees and continue with the roll out of signing of integrity pledges in other provinces during the course of this year to proactively deal with corruption.
Integrity committees are committees set up in institutions to spearhead the prevention of corruption and promotion of integrity within the institutions’ spheres of control. Zacc is mandated by the Constitution to combat corruption, theft, misappropriation, abuse of power and improper conduct in the public and private sectors.
“In addition, Zacc promotes honesty, financial discipline and transparency in both the public and private sector.”
Zacc also makes recommendations to the government and other persons on measures to enhance integrity and accountability and prevent improper conduct in the public and private sectors.
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