The Zimbabwe Coalition On Debt and Development (ZIMCODD) has called for political will and commitment in dealing with corruption in the country.
In its May 2021 situational report on public resource management across 54 districts in the country’s ten provinces, ZIMCODD said political will guarantees the independence of responsible oversight institutions.
“Zimbabwe needs a strong political will and commitment to decisively deal with corruption in all its multi-layered dimensions. There is need for the government to demonstrate political will to arrest and prosecute perpetrators and guarantee the independence of the responsible oversight institutions.
“The Government should monitor, evaluate and learn from the failures of the policy trajectory it has pursued overtime. There is an urgent need for policy reforms that put people of Zimbabwe at the center of economic governance and in particular, public resource management in order to realize meaningful development at local and national levels,” noted ZIMCODD.
The coalition called on civic society organisations to promote their knowledge in public resources management and demand transparency from public office bearers.
“Civil society actors and communities should deepen their knowledge in public resources governance and strategies to demand transparency and accountability from duty bearers in the mobilisation, allocation, distribution and reporting on public resource use. This includes the feasibility, selection, tendering and management of natural resources.”
ZIMCODD says the purpose of the report was driven by rampant corruption and mismanagement of resources in the country.
“Driven by the growing corruption, resource leakages, abuses and mismanagement of public resources, let alone COVID-19 earmarked resources and flouting of procurement procedures by public officials, ZIMCODD engaged on this intervention to influence and promote efficient deployment and use of public resources starting from the district level. The motivation also stem from the lack of transparency and accountability in COVID-19 resource mobilisation, allocation and expenditure.” the report said.
