Zimpapers Logo

Tendai Mugabe Senior Reporter
The Office of the President and Cabinet is working on proposals to transform the National Code on Corporate Governance into law to allow Government to deal with corruption and other shenanigans in companies.

This is in line with the 10-Point Plan for Economic Growth outlined by President Mugabe in the State of the Nation Address he delivered in Parliament on August 25.

The 10-Point Plan identifies the fight against corruption, among other things, as a key enabler of economic growth.

The code compels public office bearers to declare their assets, among other measures and was launched by Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa in April this year as part of Government’s efforts to restore normalcy to business transactions.

Under the code, Government ministries, State entities, local authorities, the private sector, family trusts, among other businesses, are required to comply with sector-specific provisions in their daily operations.

The code, which was crafted by experts drawn from various sectors, also prohibits permanent secretaries from sitting on boards of public institutions.

The proposals will soon be tabled before Cabinet for approval after which they will be taken to Parliament to follow due processes before they become law.

Policy Coordination and Investment Promotion Minister Simon Khaya Moyo told The Herald yesterday that transforming the code into law was the only way to show that Government was committed to a corruption-free society.

He said the scourge was impeding development, hence the need to deal with it in a more robust manner backed by law.

Said Minister Khaya Moyo: “Corruption is a serious matter and must be stopped. It cannot be stopped by word of mouth and Government is determined to curb that cancer.

“As such, the OPC is working on proposals to transform the code into law and as soon as we are done, we will make a public pronouncement.”

Minister Khaya Moyo said other countries had punitive measures against corruption and that Zimbabwe should be no exception.

Once promulgated, the law will empower the State to prosecute office bearers for corporate and other related crimes.

Several State enterprises have lately lost huge sums of money due to inadequacies in good corporate governance laws.

Several banks have also been closed after top managements embezzled depositors’ money or awarded themselves loans which they didn’t repay.

This has led to loss of public confidence in processes such as tenders, procurement, disclosure of compensation levels and use of public funds and the banking sector itself.

Some leaders of parastatals and state enterprises awarded themselves salaries and perquisites that ran into tens of thousands of dollars monthly at the expense of service delivery.

The Code was initiated in September 2009 by the Zimbabwe Leadership Forum, the Institute of Directors Zimbabwe and the Standards Association of Zimbabwe and got full support from the Government as a way to deal with corruption and abuse of company resources.

Launching the Code, VP Mnangagwa said the document should set the norm on good corporate governance and ethical leadership rooted in our culture, values, morality and professionalism.

He, however, said while the Code dealt with some of the inadequacies of the Companies Act, it anticipated an immediate revision of the legal framework on corporate governance, starting with that Act.