Opinion / Columnist
Auditor General and Anti-Corruption Commission should work hand-in-glove
28 Jun 2016 at 15:14hrs | Views
It is inundating to witness the unprecedented and the habitual exposes of gross corruption taking toll in all public institution daily. I find it useful to proffer the proposition that the Auditor General's Office and the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC), should be merged to work hand in-glove in order to weed out this corruption bud which is menacing to tear apart the nation state.
Is it correct to assume that there is gross lack of sufficient political goodwill to tackle corruption as it is happening as if it's a natural phenomena which is unrolling unperturbed as evidenced by the minimum rate at which suitable counter-actions that are applied to curtail its further spread at a time when it is pervading and piercing painstakingly, like bush fire while the whole nation watches powerlessly?
In China, for example, they apply capital punishment to corrupt elements in their society? Yet locally it seems like a rewarding game which motivates perpetrators to peddle freely with no suggestion for any punishment. Consequently we are found floating in a pool of crumbling corruption which is crippling the whole system with impunity.
Assuming that this current rate of corruption remains constant, we risky having no Zimbabwe to talk about 24 months from now because looters and corruptionists will have amassed enough wealthy to deplete the whole nation of what remains of it by then.
The perpetrators of corruption are brilliant schemas that have found unfenced loop-holes which they are exploiting successfully with no room for any disruption of their ill-intentions. This is really sad and regrettable! Something urgent needs to be done certainly to rescue us from the imminent possible derailment of the country as it is being pushed towards the verges of the cliff by the merciless corrupt public officials consuming public resources for personal aggrandisement. May God save from this rot as a matter of urgency!
It is ideal to match and marry the Auditor general's Office with ZACC for purposes of expediency in order to cut short the process of investigation on corruption cases. This would enhance the quick nabbing of corrupt officials exposed by the public auditing processes in government ministries, parastatals and local authorities.
At the moment it is proving to be a long winding process when audits reports are just submitted to parliament which more often than not fails to appropriate action on such negative reports. It's better to enable these operational institutions to work alongside each to create a perfect system in dealing with corruption. This should be legislated accordingly to facilitate the smooth union and their transformation.
At the moment the two offices are functioning while they are poles apart. This defeats the call for fighting corruption up to completion.
In addition, the relevant national institutions should educate the generality of the public through an aggressive public awareness campaigns to enable them to be conscious citizens that participate actively as corruption watchdogs for our society against this corruption bug. Some gullible people are roped in and are participating in corrupt deals without their knowledge. Everyone should be aware of this common enemy so that we fight it successfully together. So the ability to identify the common enemy will empower mobilisation of possible functional strategies and solutions from all walks of life.
Naturally the office of the Auditor General has a significant job to do for the good of the nation. Basically it checks the spending of public money by looking at whether it has been used ideally, and for the purposes for which it is intended. It attempts to reinforce fair presentation, and absence of significant misstatements in financial statements reliable, and credible performance information for predetermined objectives in compliance with all relevant laws and regulations governing public financial matters.
The Auditor General exposes where things were so bad; for instance, where they couldn't even produce reliable evidence to support financial statements. They reveal irregular expenditures as a result of significant breakdown in controls, entities entered into transactions that were not carried out in accordance with regulations and other prescripts among other things. Of which these findings fall directly into the template of ZACC mandate.
In view of such state of affairs, there is imperative need to improve government spending by hiring the right people for the job, employ staff with appropriate skills, as well as fill key positions with competent people, especially at the strategic point. There must be predictable consequences for people who wilfully break the rules or perform badly.
However, when things go wrong, the strategic leadership needs to respond immediately by either firing or demoting the perpetrators or bringing them before courts for justice.. This would enable cultivation of good corporate governance which should be appreciated by all citizens.
All statutory bodies should be under obligation to introduce daily control disciplines which ensure the enforcement the normative rules of accounting which promote transparency, accountability and protection of public resources from ravenous officials. This can be made feasible by production of regular performance reports and management accounts. All this is a by-product of normative financial control, and management teams which keep the monitoring of the financial improvement plan on its quarterly meeting agenda as must not as an option. And periodic reviewing of management accounts with the chief financial officer every month. As opposed to waiting for years, while rot and financial decadence is happening unchecked only to wake up when irreparable damage has been done.
The rate of corruption and the level of education that we possess locally is contrary to the obtaining state of affairs on the ground. There is need to prove our worth as an educated nation by doing things right in order to preserve the national heritage for the future generations.
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Sparkleford Masiyambiri <sparklefordmasiyambiri@gmail.com
Is it correct to assume that there is gross lack of sufficient political goodwill to tackle corruption as it is happening as if it's a natural phenomena which is unrolling unperturbed as evidenced by the minimum rate at which suitable counter-actions that are applied to curtail its further spread at a time when it is pervading and piercing painstakingly, like bush fire while the whole nation watches powerlessly?
In China, for example, they apply capital punishment to corrupt elements in their society? Yet locally it seems like a rewarding game which motivates perpetrators to peddle freely with no suggestion for any punishment. Consequently we are found floating in a pool of crumbling corruption which is crippling the whole system with impunity.
Assuming that this current rate of corruption remains constant, we risky having no Zimbabwe to talk about 24 months from now because looters and corruptionists will have amassed enough wealthy to deplete the whole nation of what remains of it by then.
The perpetrators of corruption are brilliant schemas that have found unfenced loop-holes which they are exploiting successfully with no room for any disruption of their ill-intentions. This is really sad and regrettable! Something urgent needs to be done certainly to rescue us from the imminent possible derailment of the country as it is being pushed towards the verges of the cliff by the merciless corrupt public officials consuming public resources for personal aggrandisement. May God save from this rot as a matter of urgency!
It is ideal to match and marry the Auditor general's Office with ZACC for purposes of expediency in order to cut short the process of investigation on corruption cases. This would enhance the quick nabbing of corrupt officials exposed by the public auditing processes in government ministries, parastatals and local authorities.
At the moment it is proving to be a long winding process when audits reports are just submitted to parliament which more often than not fails to appropriate action on such negative reports. It's better to enable these operational institutions to work alongside each to create a perfect system in dealing with corruption. This should be legislated accordingly to facilitate the smooth union and their transformation.
At the moment the two offices are functioning while they are poles apart. This defeats the call for fighting corruption up to completion.
In addition, the relevant national institutions should educate the generality of the public through an aggressive public awareness campaigns to enable them to be conscious citizens that participate actively as corruption watchdogs for our society against this corruption bug. Some gullible people are roped in and are participating in corrupt deals without their knowledge. Everyone should be aware of this common enemy so that we fight it successfully together. So the ability to identify the common enemy will empower mobilisation of possible functional strategies and solutions from all walks of life.
Naturally the office of the Auditor General has a significant job to do for the good of the nation. Basically it checks the spending of public money by looking at whether it has been used ideally, and for the purposes for which it is intended. It attempts to reinforce fair presentation, and absence of significant misstatements in financial statements reliable, and credible performance information for predetermined objectives in compliance with all relevant laws and regulations governing public financial matters.
The Auditor General exposes where things were so bad; for instance, where they couldn't even produce reliable evidence to support financial statements. They reveal irregular expenditures as a result of significant breakdown in controls, entities entered into transactions that were not carried out in accordance with regulations and other prescripts among other things. Of which these findings fall directly into the template of ZACC mandate.
In view of such state of affairs, there is imperative need to improve government spending by hiring the right people for the job, employ staff with appropriate skills, as well as fill key positions with competent people, especially at the strategic point. There must be predictable consequences for people who wilfully break the rules or perform badly.
However, when things go wrong, the strategic leadership needs to respond immediately by either firing or demoting the perpetrators or bringing them before courts for justice.. This would enable cultivation of good corporate governance which should be appreciated by all citizens.
All statutory bodies should be under obligation to introduce daily control disciplines which ensure the enforcement the normative rules of accounting which promote transparency, accountability and protection of public resources from ravenous officials. This can be made feasible by production of regular performance reports and management accounts. All this is a by-product of normative financial control, and management teams which keep the monitoring of the financial improvement plan on its quarterly meeting agenda as must not as an option. And periodic reviewing of management accounts with the chief financial officer every month. As opposed to waiting for years, while rot and financial decadence is happening unchecked only to wake up when irreparable damage has been done.
The rate of corruption and the level of education that we possess locally is contrary to the obtaining state of affairs on the ground. There is need to prove our worth as an educated nation by doing things right in order to preserve the national heritage for the future generations.
------------
Sparkleford Masiyambiri <sparklefordmasiyambiri@gmail.com
Source - Sparkleford Masiyambiri
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