Kereke says we need action not a committee to look into salarygate

The Member of Parliament for Bikita West Munyaradzi Kereke yesterday said Zimbabwe needs to take physical corrective action against corruption and not just talk about if it wants to reduce the scourge.

Contributing to the motion on good governance, Kereke said he did not agree with the idea of setting up a Parliamentary committee to look into corruption because there were already institutions that could do that.

“We do have the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission which is born juristically out of the Constitution whose mandate and daily bread ought to be fighting corruption. We have the Zimbabwe Republic Police, which among other duties is ensuring that there is good order in the country but in their daily duties, their role is also to fight crime, ensure there is law and order and defeat the vice of corruption and several other institutions Mr. Speaker.

“I want to say, instead of coming up with a Parliamentary Committee to investigate, oversee and establish ways of dealing with corruption, we simply advocate for implementation and observance of laws that are in existence.

“The laws are there. If making coffee requires that you boil water, do not be seen making coffee before boiling the water. You cannot then create a Committee to boil water to make coffee. We have the institutions and we have the laws. I do not think at this stage we will gain more mileage Mr. Speaker Sir, by establishing yet another creation where the institutions to do the job are already in place.”

Kereke said he did not agree with his colleague from Hurungwe North Reuben Marumahoko on salarygate.

Marumahoko said the government had been hasty in cutting salaries of chief executives of parastatals to US$6 000 because these salaries had been negotiated and agreed on.

“I want to first respectfully differ with the proposition that the so called Salarygate is invalid– particularly where the presiding executives would have overruled sitting boards in making certain decisions. It then means they would have fast tracked the ascendancy of their conditions of service, which is not the same as the contracts they would have bargained for when joining the respective institutions.

“The issue of obtuse disproportionate salaries that we saw; we want to commend the speedy action which government took in terms of regularising parastatals heads’ salaries, but we feel more action still needs to be done to recover what is due to the public as was siphoned through disproportionate salaries,” Kereke said.

Full contribution:

DR. KEREKE: Thank you for according me this opportunity to contribute on the important motion before the House. I want to first respectfully differ with the proposition that the so called Salarygate is invalid – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear] – particularly where the presiding executives would have overruled sitting boards in making certain decisions. It then means they would have fast tracked the ascendancy of their conditions of service, which is not the same as the contracts they would have bargained for when joining the respective institutions.

The issue of obtuse disproportionate salaries that we saw; we want to commend the speedy action which Government took in terms of regularising parastatals heads’ salaries, but we feel more action still needs to be done to recover what is due to the public as was siphoned through disproportionate salaries.

Mr. Speaker Sir, until as a country we accept that certain action has to be taken, not just taken in terms of debate but through physical corrective measures, we will not be able to reduce the scourge of corruption.

There is the issue before the House, the formation of a Parliamentary Committee as amended; I am of a different view that what is needed is action and not a Committee. This is a view which I hold dearly because as a country, through this august House Mr. Speaker Sir, the relevant institutions are already in existence to fight corruption not from one dimension but from multiple dimensions.

We do have the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission which is born juristically out of the Constitution whose mandate and daily bread ought to be fighting corruption. We have the Zimbabwe Republic Police, which among other duties is ensuring that there is good order in the country but in their daily duties, their role is also to fight crime, ensure there is law and order and defeat the vice of corruption and several other institutions Mr. Speaker.

I want to say, instead of coming up with a Parliamentary Committee to investigate, oversee and establish ways of dealing with corruption, we simply advocate for implementation and observance of laws that are in existence. The laws are there; if making coffee requires that you boil water, do not be seen making coffee before boiling the water. You cannot then create a Committee to boil water to make coffee. We have the institutions and we have the laws. I do not think at this stage we will gain more mileage Mr. Speaker Sir, by establishing yet another creation where the institutions to do the job are already in place.

Mr. Speaker, we would want to as we debate this important motion, look at real life examples of corruption and then see how we tackle them. The hon. member who spoke before me indicated that corruption is everywhere, that is a fact but we should not then lose traction in that reality. We need to make the first steps to correct what could be a nationwide problem. I thank you.

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