2.5.6 CHALLENGES AND OBSERVATIONS
The Commission raised key challenges to their operations namely;
- The Commission is grossly underfunded compared to sister agencies within the region. ZACC was allocated 0.11% of the National Budget whilst regional agencies get an allocation ranging from 1-5% of the budget.
- The current Anti-Corruption Commission Act [Chapter 9:22] does not give ZACC prosecuting powers as is the case with sister agencies in Botswana, Nigeria and Zambia.
- Remuneration for Corruption Investigating Officers was considered to be very low (ZWL$700) in light of the job before them. Their Zambian counterparts earn the equivalent of US$5,000. This will likely increase their susceptibility of ZACC employees to acceptance of bribes.
- It was noted that in Zimbabwe, there is no framework to protect whistle-blowers in cases of corruption but regional Anti-Corruption bodies have such frameworks. Without such a framework, many offences go unreported for fear of victimisation. Some have been sacked for reporting cases of corruption at their places of employment.
- Some individuals have been seen to accumulate unexplained wealth and cannot justify their opulent lifestyles.
- Some independent Commissions are finding it difficult to expand beyond Harare due to office space challenges.
2.5.7 RECOMMENDATIONS
The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs recommends the following;
*Treasury should benchmark the ZACC budget at 2% of the total budget.
*The current Anti-Corruption Commission Act [Chapter 9:22] should be amended to give ZACC prosecuting powers to decisively deal with corruption cases.
* Treasury should adequately resource ZACC for it to improve remuneration of Corruption Investigation officers from ZWL$700 to a minimum of ZWL$5 000. In addition, non-monetary incentives, such as car loans and housing loans, will go a long way in motivating staff to develop zero-tolerance towards corruption.
*A framework should be put in place to protect whistle-blowers from persecution by alleged offenders.
*ZACC should seize unexplained wealth whereupon failure to adequately justify source of income will result in forfeiture to the state.
*In cases where different Commissions are seeking to expand into a mutually common area, sharing of rented buildings is one way of alleviating the problem.
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