Natpham under Zacc scrutiny

Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter 

THE Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) is conducting a systems-review exercise for the Presidential and National Scholarship Department and National Pharmaceutical Company (Natpham) to establish whether they are adhering to good corporate governance tenets.

Zacc Ethics and Public Education manager Dr Munyaradzi Magiga revealed this on Monday in Bulawayo where the commission was holding a national anti-corruption strategy validation workshop.

In the meeting, Zacc presented a draft national anti-corruption document and sought input from the public. 

 “We wouldn’t call them investigations as such but we are carrying out systems reviews. These systems reviews are only done to make sure that the organisation is sticking to good corporate governance in the way it tackles its day to day duties. We are saying we have done this with the Presidential and National Scholarships department and the report is almost ready. 

“We have also done that with Natpham and the findings will be made public. I can assure you that we are trying as much as possible to use the same reports to advise these departments that they should stick to principles of good corporate governance,” said Dr Magiga.

He did not reveal why those two institutions were selected for the systems review process.

The Presidential and National Scholarship Department handles scholarship applications for underprivileged but intelligent students who may want to pursue university education but lack funds.

Scores of students across the country have benefited from the scholarship programme which has seen some beneficiaries studying in institutions in South Africa, Algeria, China and Russian among other countries.

Natpham is a government-run company mandated to buy and supply medical drugs for the country’s hospitals hence it is critical for it to adhere to good corporate governance.

Zacc is leading the crafting of a national anti-corruption strategy set to be launched later this year.

Dr Magiga said the country needs to speak with one voice in dealing with the endemic corruption issue.

“In the national anti-corruption strategy, the idea is to get national consensus and we want to bring all the people of Zimbabwe to actually fight from one standpoint where we are saying we don’t need corruption in the country,” he said.

Zacc Commissioner Michael Dennis Santu, who was part of the meeting, said after completing the validation process, the anti-corruption strategy document would be submitted to President Mnangagwa. – @nqotshili

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