Source: TIZ challenges ZRP anti-graft unit – DailyNews Live
STAFF WRITER 3 October 2018
HARARE – Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ) has raised its
reservations on the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP)’s Anti-Corruption Unit
saying there was need for a multi-sectoral approach to corruption as
compared to a single unit approach.
In May, Police commissioner-general Godwin Matanga launched the new
special unit which he said was meant to investigate and detect corruption
at all levels of society.
He said the unit will be working together with the Zimbabwe
Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) and other agencies to curb corruption.
Government recently launched Anti-Corruption Courts in partnership with
Zacc, the National Prosecuting Authority, the Attorney-General’s Office,
the ZRP and the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services.
TIZ director Mucha Mundopa this week told a workshop on Gendered
Corruption here that while the establishment was positively in place,
there was need for a broader approach to effectively tackle corruption in
the country.
“This is a long overdue move by the government. We, however, can only hope
that it goes beyond being a simple structure but a functional one that
engages multiple stakeholders in a progressive manner,” Mundopa said.
“The fight against corruption requires a multi-sectoral and integrated
approach. The police cannot address corruption alone.”
Mundopa said TIZ has lately been advocating for a national anti-corruption
strategy after realising that despite a number of actors mandated to deal
with the scourge, there was no proper coordination among them.
This she said has effectively led to a number of corruption cases going
undetected as well as not dealt with for those that would have been
detected.
“We have noted that although there is a multiplicity of actors mandated to
fight corruption such as Zacc, the newly-established ZRP anti-corruption
unit, the judiciary and CSOs, there isn’t any coordination framework,” she
said.
Mundopa added: “There is also lack of a strategy or guiding framework that
enlists key anti-corruption priorities and key actions such that we will
continue talking about corruption without zeroing in on what needs to be
tackled first and how.”
Where there is a haphazard implementation of efforts to tackle corruption,
we are likely not to succeed.
She said there was need for a national anti-corruption strategy which will
be accompanied by a framework for monitoring and evaluating the
implementation of anti-corruption actions by various State and non-State
actors.
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