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Herald Correspondent

The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) has launched the #IamForZero Anti-Corruption Campaign to curb corrupt activities among its employees and stakeholders across the country.

The campaign is being spearheaded by the ZIMRA’s Integrity Committee and is meant to instil a personal conviction among ZIMRA staff and stakeholders to declare their commitment to ethical conduct in all their service delivery.

The launch was attended by 95 stakeholders including members from the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC), Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), Government departments, clearing agents, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), and captains of industry and commerce.

Speaking at the launch ceremony, ZIMRA acting commissioner-general Ms Regina Chinamasa said corruption was one of the biggest non-tariff barriers that has the potential to make the country’s products less competitive hence the urgency to identify and nip it in the bud.

“The #IamForZero campaign will achieve a win-win situation for both ZIMRA and all stakeholders in the fight against corruption,” she said.

“ZIMRA needs your support and intervention in the fight against corruption in Zimbabwe, specifically tax and duty-related corruption. We need to do much more to combat the scourge at every layer. It starts with me and you, at an individual level.”

Ms Chinamasa said ZIMRA is zero-tolerant to corruption and looked forward to stakeholders’ collaboration and cooperation through sharing of information in the fight against corruption as provided within the tax statutes that ZIMRA administers.

“Our economy is dependent on sustainable domestic revenue mobilisation for social and infrastructural development. Corruption and tax evasion threaten our economy and the quality of our lives. Put bluntly, corruption is stealing from the poor for they bear the corrosive impact of the scourge through underdevelopment,” she said.

National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi applauded the #IamForZero anti-corruption campaign.

“ZRP supports and embraces ZIMRA’s anti-corruption drive.

“Corruption is a vice which needs all stakeholders to join hands and earnestly fight it in all sectors of the economy.

“As police, we implore the public to take this campaign seriously and shun corrupt tendencies in all forms. We are ready to ensure that the law takes its course on anyone involved in corruption in the country,” he said.

The #IamForZero campaign will be rolled out countrywide through engagements with key stakeholders as part of cultivating a sustainable anti-corruption culture, particularly linked to tax and customs related service administration.

ZIMRA conducts lifestyle audits and regularly undertakes a corruption risk diagnostic and assessment process that identifies corruption hot spots, conducts root cause analysis and makes appropriate recommendations to minimise the identified risks.

The authority also implements the Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Act which has seen ill-gotten assets being recovered and forfeited.

The campaign is expected to go a long way in curbing corruption as it brings together both internal and external stakeholders to discuss winning ways in the fight against                                       corruption.