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Herald Reporter

ACCOUNTING professionals should shun corruption and use their skills to help rebuild the country’s economy, the Auditor-General, Mrs Mildred Chiri, has said.

Speaking at the 2022 Premier Business School (PBS) awards ceremony in Harare last Thursday, Mrs Chiri said there had been a number of high-profile corruption cases by auditors.

She implored accounting professionals who were awarded the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) certification to discharge their duties with honesty and integrity.

“Go out there and be ethical accountants with integrity. Corruption kills both yourself and the country,” she said.

“Don’t be involved in corrupt activities that jeopardise your career, and do not aspire to acquire wealth at any cost. We have seen many scandals in the private and public sectors, some of which were perpetrated by qualified accountants. We don’t expect that from you as products of Premier Business School.”

It was impossible, Mrs Chiri said, to be successful in accounting and finance without sound ethics and integrity.

“Integrity and ethics should be the backbone of any accounting professional. Without integrity and ethics, you cannot be a successful accountant or finance person. The profession requires high levels of discipline, and without integrity, it is almost impossible for you to achieve sustained success.”

The Auditor-General, who is a PBS alumnus, hailed award recipients for completing their studies despite challenges brought by Covid-19.

“You are warriors. The playing field is not level, but it takes a resilient and focused individual with a good value system to harness opportunities as they present themselves to your advantage. These opportunities will act as enablers in your professional journey.”

PBS director Mr Ngoni Alex Sanangura said the ACCA school had set up a fund to help struggling gifted students.

“As part of its corporate social responsibility programme, Premier Business School has set up a fund to provide tuition fees for deserving students. To date, PBS has paid tuition fees for several students, some of whom have now become members.

“However, we think, if we partner with the corporate world, the impact will be much bigger, and we will produce more qualified chartered certified accountants”.