Row over Zacc logo change

The changing of the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption (Zacc) logo has ignited a row, amid allegations the alterations were done without approval from the executive of the anti-graft agency.

The decision to change the logo has created confusion in the agency, forcing the anti-graft body to revert back to the original symbol, which has a Zimbabwe flag, the Zimbabwe bird, the Great Zimbabwe monument and the Coat of Arms.

The new logo has the map of Zimbabwe and two chimney-looking features emitting smoke, grain and an excavator, and two features looking like palms cupping the map.

A senior official with the organisation, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: "The issue of the logo has become thorny, but I urge you to do your own independent investigation."

According to other officials, after changing the logo, some senior officials at the organisation went on to print T-shirts and shirts at an exorbitant cost of between $18 and $20 each. It was not immediately clear exactly how many T-shirts were printed.

"These staff-sourced quotations from their company, approved it, received the goods from manufacturer and they are the ones who distributed the goods in violation of good corporate governance. This new logo is also now going to be changed again.

"There are however burning questions on who authorised the removal of the old logo, who approved the new logo, was there a commission resolution, among other issues?"

The Daily News, understands there has been a report over this that has been written to president Emmerson Mnangagwa and copied to the National Prosecuting Authority.

The report, believed to have been written by some disgruntled officers, claimed some senior staff members, who include the chief publicity officer Onesmus Nyaude, commissioner Farai Chinyani and Zacc spokesperson Phyllis Chikundura were involved in the process.

When the Daily News contacted Chikundura for a comment, she referred questions to Nyaude, as she was at the time away in Bulawayo. Nyaude however, referred the questions to Chinyani, who dismissed the allegations, claiming the change of logo had been authorised by Zacc.

"The commission authorised the change of the logo and yes with a resolution due to its rebranding efforts. It also went a step further to officially launch the logo with a published booklet detailing the reasons. You can obtain a copy from our offices. The whole commission was there at the launch including stakeholders. It was highly publicised and televised.

"The commission has the right to change its logo as many times as it wishes if the current logo is not serving its needs. The T-shirts that were donated with the new logo have pretty much been distributed to our stakeholders and members of the public.

"We actually wish we had enough funds to keep a lot of materials in stock. When we changed our logo we continued to use our old materials until they were finished. I still wear our shirts from the previous logo. We don't throw anything away," she said.

She said the administration department does all procurement for the commission in terms of the Public Procurement Act.

"As you know, the Commission is wholly funded by public funds. I am a commissioner, I do not get involved in soliciting for quotations etc. I am involved in policy making. You can also verify this with the secretary to the Commission Silence Pondo," Chinyani said.

She further said that the administration manager was the one who knew the cost of production of the T-shirts, hastening to state that most of the T-shirts and material was donated by Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz).

She said they gave Potraz their logo, which in turn procured the T-shirts as the commission did not have funds, further denying the involvement of a company linked to them in the production of the T-shirts.

"As I alluded to earlier, I am a commissioner, Nyaude and Chikundura are officers. We have different job descriptions. I don't even own a company. You can verify this with the registrar of companies. More so, a company that makes T-shirts. These are obviously malicious false allegations," she said.

"May I appeal to you and other members of the media to remain objective in your reporting. We have a huge task ahead of us, hoping we can take advantage of an environment where we can finally deliver our mandate.

"Please, don't hesitate to hold us accountable and it's our job as a commission to lead by example. Corruption fights back, but we will fight harder.

"I am a huge advocate for the arrest of those who commit the crime of conflict of interest by doing business with public organisations that they work for.  I would never do any business with Zacc. It's illegal. I am actually not very popular at the commission because of my strictness in the use of Commission resources."