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Addressing delegatses during the Pipe Spring Marketing and Zimbabwe Institute of management’s (ZIM) corporate governance conference in Bulawayo yesterday, Deposit Protection Board chief executive officer Mr John Chikura said there was great need to improve corporate governance in the country.
“Some companies have failed and others are failing because of poor governance which is the reason why during the 2003/4 crisis, some banks collapsed while others remained in existence.

“We are calling for accountability and good management of businesses because if people don’t take responsibility, nothing will ever go well,” said Mr Chikura who is also ZIM president.
He said over the past decade the economy deteriorated mainly because the country was failing to acknowledge its weaknesses, making it difficult to bring about transformation.

“Locally, we have created a culture of wrong doings whereby in Zimbabwe we say we don’t steal but we take and again say we don’t have problems but challenges.
“This culture of corruption has also massively contributed to the degradation of the economy hence the need for transparency in all levels of the economy,” he said.
He said the governance of companies was similar to governance of nations hence the need to be taken seriously.

“It is high time directors are accountable by contributing meaningfully to the societies they operate in.”
Mr Chikura said there were certain issues that needed to be addressed to ensure directors also play their part in good corporate governance to achieve economic growth.

“The first point to note is the need to update the Companies Act. We have a companies Act at the moment, but we seriously need it to be reviewed to allow change in the economy.

“Secondly, there are basically two approaches which are the legislative and principle-based approach and the voluntary approach, for example, applying or explaining,” he said.

Mr Chikura noted that presently in Zimbabwe accountability and shareholder or board relations were very bad.
“Locally, accountability and board relations are a pain in the neck characterised by poor exchange of information between boards and shareholders.

“There is need to educate shareholders so that they can be informed and know exactly how to create strong corporate governance policies for their organisations which is the reason why we need shareholder associations in our country also.”

He called for a culture that fosters confidence and trust to investors by making corporate governance a way of life.
“Strong corporate governance will help combat corruption thereby attracting investment both locally and internationally.
“Legal systems must also be improved so that we go back to our core values so that our economy develops,” he said.

The organisers of the event expressed satisfaction with the event saying it was a good learning forum for businesspeople to improve their management skills.
In an interview, the marketing director of Pipe Spring Marketing executive Miss Precious Sibanda said they were prompted to come up with the conference after realising that the economy especially in Matabeleland was greatly affected by poor corporate governance.

“We need to boost business practices so as to revitalise local industry and we have hosted this conference in Bulawayo because such kind of fora are usually conducted in Victoria Falls and Harare. We want Bulawayo to also benefit from these events.

“This conference will be an annual event and next year it will be bigger and better as it is high time as local businesses we got back our confidence,” she said.