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corruption, a Government official has said.
Reading a speech on behalf of Vice President
Joice Mujuru at a forensic conference yesterday, the Minister of State in Vice President Joice Mujuru’s Office, Sylvester Nguni, said the commitment of these players is critical for the development of effective solutions to corruption.
“It is essential to bring together the three main sectors of society, that is, Government, the private sector and civil society.
“The efforts and energies of these three players
are needed to ensure changes in moral and ethical
attitudes. The firm commitment of these sectors is essential and required to develop and implement genuine solutions.
“Such solutions must include concrete measures
that are preventive as well as punitive enough to
address issues of accountability, transparency and inequity at various levels of social and economic systems,” he said.
The third Forensic Conference for Southern Africa, running until tomorrow is expected to highlight the latest developments in the field and provide up-to-date training in financial forensics.
Mr Nguni also called for the establishment of specific curricula for forensic accounting in the country’s educational institutions and the development of supportive legal instruments in the forensic field.
“Due to the escalation of white-collar crime there is a need to broaden the curricula of accountants to include auditing and investigative skills.
“Alternatively, a new field of study specific for this function could be established at our institutions of learning.
“Also of note is the fact that the majority of forensic accounting is done with an eye towards litigation, thus forensic accountants should be supported with legal systems for successful prosecution,” he said.
Experts in the field contend that the prevalence of corruption and related vices undermines the well-being of society, resulting in the cyclic effects of business collapse, unemployment and increased poverty.
Business vice also has the effect of increasing the cost of production and reduces competitiveness, which is already a major concern in Zimbabwe’s prevailing business environment.
At the broader level, corrupt business tendencies causes instability in economic systems, affecting revenue generation, service delivery and price stabilisation.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Proctor and Associates Fraud Advisory senior partner and event organiser
Mr Proctor Nyemba said the conference will help the participants to appreciate the broad spectrum of fraud activities.
“This intensive three-day conference will help individuals and organisations obtain the fundamental and specialised forensic accounting skills that are required for the effective fight against the wide range of fraud and corruption activities occurring in corporations and governments in today’s world,” he said.
The conference is targeting heads of: forensic auditing, accountants, investigations, fraud, security risk management, finance, anti-money laundering, information security, insurance practitioners, loss control managers, human resources managers and administration managers and other players that handle forensic accounting.