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Zvamaida Murwira : Senior Reporter

The Office of the President and Cabinet has assumed administration of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act and the Prevention of Corruption Act as part of efforts to strengthen the fight against the scourge. The announcement was made in a Statutory Instrument of Government Gazette published yesterday.“It is hereby notified that His Excellency the President has, in terms of Section 104 (1) of the Constitution as read with Section 37 (2) of the Interpretation Act (Chapter 1:01), reserved to his Office (a) the administration of the Acts set out in the Schedule, and (b) the functions conferred or imposed on his office save to the extent that those functions have not been assigned to some other Minister,” read the regulations.

The Anti-Corruption Commission Act was initially administered by the Ministry of Home Affairs while the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs administered the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The Anti-Corruption Commission Act seeks to establish a Commission to combat corruption in the country.

The commission is an independent constitutional body set up to fight the vice.

The Act provides how commissioners are appointed and their functions, powers and tenure.

In recent years several people, mostly from the public sector have been arrested and arraigned before the criminal courts on allegations of corruption.

Several businesspersons and companies have been specified under the Prevention of Corruption Act for corruption.

The Act empowered the minister to appoint an investigator and provides for his or her powers in the discharge of his duties.

In terms of the Act, a person specified is not allowed to dispose any property, enter into any contract or operate any account with any financial institution, among other legal requirements during the tenure of the specification.

The Act provides procedures, powers and rights of the investigator and the person or entity being investigated.