Zim Anti-Corruption Commission under-funded

Published: 01 August 2017

The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) said on Monday due to lack of funding, it is based in Harare only yet corruption happens all over the country.

ZACC chairperson Job Whabira told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Defence, Home Affairs and Security Services that limited funding also prohibited the anti-graft body from investigating reports in remote areas.

"The problem of financial limitation in the country has made it impossible for decentralisation to take place. The anti-corruption commission is only centralised in Harare. It's not decentralised into the provinces and districts. As a result, it is as if corruption only exists in the province of Harare and yet it is everywhere. Because of financial limitation, we are not able to send staff to those areas," he said.Whabira said because of the limitation, corruption remained a scourge.

"The need for us to decentralise is imperative so that we can reach every area. You can imagine people in Beitbridge or in Binga and in all those areas that are far away where we cannot reach from Harare because of limitation of resources. If we had resources, we would establish offices in the provinces and the districts so that whistle blowers can go and report the activities of corruption taking place in their areas," he said.away where we cannot reach from Harare because of limitation of resources. If we had resources, we would establish offices in the provinces and the districts so that whistle blowers can go and report the activities of corruption taking place in their areas," he said.

Whabira added; "But because of financial limitation, we are not able to do that. We do it with the help of police and whistle blowers have to go through the police instead of coming directly to us and other agencies that are given letters that come to us then we go and investigate whenever funds become available."through the police instead of coming directly to us and other agencies that are given letters that come to us then we go and investigate whenever funds become available."

Chief investigations officer Alex Masiya said the body was also constrained by lack of investigations personnel."The investigations department has 36 officers, to carry out investigations the whole of Zimbabwe and out of that, 21 are seconded officers from the police and other stakeholders leaving ZACC with 15 officers to carry out investigations.

"And of that 21 lot who are seconded from other stakeholders you find that only 8 officers have been investigating cases of economic crime leaving 13 officers who are being trained to investigate economic crimes at ZACC," he said.

- New Ziana