Pay anti-corruption officers minimum of $5 000 a month- Zimbabwe Parliament says

Zimbabwe’ Parliament has urged the government to pay anti-corruption officers a minimum of $5 000 a month to motivate them to develop a zero tolerance to corruption.

It said some officers were earning $700 which contradicts statements by the government that the lowest paid worker now earns slightly over $1 000.

“Treasury should adequately resource ZACC for it to improve remuneration of Corruption Investigation officers from $700 to a minimum of $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,” the Portfolio Committee of Justice said..

Their counterparts in Zambia earned the equivalent of US$5 000 a month, it said.

The committee said the $71.6 million that was allocated to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission was too low to address the scourge.

The allocation, it said represented only 0.11 percent of the budget while the allocation in the region ranged from 1-5 percent.

It recommended that the allocation to ZACC must be increased to at least 2 percent of the national budget.

“According to Transparency International, Zimbabwe’s Corruption Perception Index is 22 points out of 100, placing her on a rank of 160 out of 180 countries.

“The highest ranked country Denmark, has a score of 88 points out of 100. The highest ranked African country is Botswana in position 34 with a corruption perception index of 61 points out of 100.

“Botswana’s success is attributed to a well resourced Anti-Corruption agency both in terms of financial as well as human resources. For a country with a population of just over two million, a team of 316 corruption investigators shows the seriousness they attach to fighting corruption.

“In contrast, Zimbabwe only has 34 corruption investigators in a country with an estimated population of 15 million.”

The committee said ZACC investigated 486 cases this year. Of these, 56 were referred for prosecution.

It recovered assets valued at $100 million.

Next year, it intends to investigate 330 cases of corruption and recover assets worth $300 million.

Continued next page

(200 VIEWS)