MUTARE– Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with local parliamentarians and a civic society player, to push for strategies and drafting of policies to fight against corruption.
Parliamentarians under the African Parliamentary Network against Corruption (APNAC) will this month sign two Memoranda of Understanding with the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZAAC) and Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ).
TIZ such strategic alliances with the parliamentarians is derived from the need to create multi stakeholder platforms which opens up discussions around policies and laws needed to fight corruption.
APNAC Zimbabwe chapter chairperson Priscilla Misihairambwi said the MoUs with civic so0ciety and ZACC will enhance members of Parliament roles in leading the fight against corruption through robust legislation.
Misihairambwi, speaking at a TIZ coordinated training workshop for legislators on corruption where, said such engagements help them better understand complex issues surrounding corruption and craft appropriate policies to bust the scourge.
“We have decided that as the legislative arm, we need to engage very seriously with ZACC. We will sign a MoU with ZACC and one with Transparency International who are part of civic society working on issue to do with corruption.
“As APNAC we want to influence the architecture of Parliament to engage in issues of corruption so that they also play a role in pushing the anti-corruption agenda in parliament and in their respective committees,” she said.
Misihairambwi said the MoUs would put into perspective legislation such as the Whistleblower Policy as well as finding out challenges within the Judiciary system that hinder the swift prosecution of corruption cases.
TIZ executive director Muchaneta Mundopa said legislators are expected to engage in robust debate on how to enhance the fight against all forms of corruption and articulate corruption issues with ease.
She said through engagement TIZ is playing its part a civic society to equip them with requisite knowledge needed for the crafting of appropriate and precise pieces of legislation or institutional frameworks.
“Parliament plays a very critical role in terms of fighting corruption. We decided to engage APNAC and the chairpersons of specific parliamentary portfolio committees to strengthen their capacity to have an understanding of what corruption is, how it’s damaging the economy and the societal values at large and how they can then play a role in eradicating the corruption,” she said.
Parliamentary portfolio committee on foreign Affairs Kindness Paradza said they were committed to fighting corruption and ensure that people embrace the call for zero tolerance to corruption.
“As Parliament we are assisting the Government and anti-corruption organs to have a corruption free society. We will also work with all law enforcement agencies to deal with the scourge of corruption which has destroyed our economy,” he said.
TIZ is part of global non- profit, non- partisan, systems-oriented local chapter of the international movement against corruption, with a broad mandate to fight corruption and related vices through networks of integrity in line with the Global Strategy.
In a recent study on corruption in the Health sector TIZ says corruption has reached unprecedented levels, with findings showing that 8 in ten Zimbabweans have no confidence in the sector while at least a third of respondents paid a bribe to access health services.
From the findings TIZ says it only scratched on the surface, but it has become abundantly clear that corruption has permeated critical social service delivery sectors and has turned the health sector into a death trap.
