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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
THE Minister of Rural Development, Promotion and Preservation of National Culture and Heritage Cde Abednico Ncube has said there should be zero tolerance to corruption as it hits hard on the poor.

He said this at an anti-corruption training workshop for rural local authorities that ended in Victoria Falls last week.

Cde Ncube officiated at the workshop and implored public officials to ensure transparency in service delivery.

“This is a unique opportunity for Government and local authorities to strengthen their strategies in the fight against corruption, a cancerous scourge that continues to affect social economic development,” he said.

“Corruption hits hard on the poor because they depend on the services we provide. It is therefore important that we have corruption free local authorities premised on providing accountable and value for money services.”

The minister said Government has instituted a number of initiatives to fight corruption such as the enactment of legislation to curb it and auditing all public institutions.

Cde Ncube said his ministry has a zero tolerance to corruption. “There is a need for awareness campaigns to empower officials against the scourge. My ministry will exercise zero tolerance to all forms of corruption in the rural local authorities,” he said.

The 8th annual conference on anti-corruption was attended by rural district councils’ management, councillors, chief executive officers and development partners.

The managing director of Compact Training (Private) Limited, Zimbabwe, Mr Trueman Debwe challenged local authorities to address the issue of corruption for effective service delivery.

He described corruption as a crime against humanity.

“This is a workshop to share experiences and raise awareness against corruption. Corruption has inflicted untold pain and suffering on our people and should be condemned by humanity. Indeed corruption for many of us falls in the same league as rape, torture, genocide, and other crimes against humanity that rob us of our most essential dignity. Municipalities and parastatals need to address this scourge if they are to be effective service delivery vehicles,” he said.

The theme for the workshop was: “Corruption is a crime against humanity.”

— @ncubeleon