Chief secretary raps corruption in Govt

Ray Bande in Nyanga—-

THE prevalence of corruption in Government stands in the way of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and stifles economic turnaround programmes such as Zim-Asset, Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Dr Misheck Sibanda has said.Delivering his keynote address at the heads of Government ministries workshop in Nyanga yesterday, the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Dr Misheck Sibanda said there was need for zero-tolerance on corruption if the country was to attract investment.

He said Government was accelerating the widening of the foreign currency basket to avoid dependency on the US dollar by promoting the use of the South African rand, British pound, Chinese yuan as well as the bond notes which would be used not only as an export incentive, but also for daily transactions.

Dr Sibanda said the prevailing cash shortages have had an adverse effect on the implementation of the economic blueprint programme Zim-Asset, hence the need to promote use of more currencies in the foreign currency basket.

“There is widening use of the basket of foreign currency in order to avoid dependence on one currency — the US dollar. The British pound, the rand, the Chinese yuan are also going to be utilised while the bond notes will not only be an export incentive, but also will be used in daily transactions.

“We need to adopt zero tolerance on corruption. There is no way we can get FDI for as long as we do not address vices such as corruption,” he said.

Dr Sibanda said the use of the US dollar had proved unsustainable as it attracted fortune seekers who would stop at nothing to siphon every dollar on the market.

He highlighted the achievements and challenges Government has faced since the start the Zim-Asset policy.

“In the Food and Nutrition cluster of Zim-Assset, there has been low production or productivity in the A1 and A2 farms owing to high costs of inputs and effects of climate change as well as limited funding of agricultural sector.

“Production of the bankable 99-year lease agreements through the collaboratory input of Government and local banking sector which will facilitate on farm investment and enhance security of tenure.

“The revival of key agricultural institutions namely Arda, Cotton Company of Zimbabwe, Cold Storage Commission, which in some cases these initiative are already bearing fruit,” he said.