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Senator Chief Ngungumbane, born Zama Mkhwananzi of Mberengwa East has called for the proper and adequate remuneration of prosecutors and other key criminal justice officials if the fight against the scourge of corruption is to be won.
Chief Ngungumbane told the August House that if the government does not take action in adjusting these salaries, there will be little hope in the fight against corruption in Zimbabwe.
He was contributing to a debate on efforts to curb corruption in the Upper House (Senate), Thursday.
Chief Ngungumbane said, Minister of Finance Mthuli Ncube’s 2023 budget must reflect the investment of adequate financial resources towards this.
“I therefore call the Government to offer supportive civil service conditions, decent working and living conditions for the servants of the public consisting of sufficient job security, opportunities for promotion and fair remuneration or social appreciation; they will have chances of reducing corruption.
“It also calls that as Parliament, we must ensure that the players in the criminal justice system receive adequate budgets when the Minister of Finance brings in the budget at the end of the year. There should also be timeous distribution of this budget to the concerned parties. This will enable institutional empowerment of its bodies, when fully resourced, they are able to carry out their duties independently without fear or favour,” said Chief Ngungumbane.
He added that, “Mr. President, institutions that deal with corruption, in my own view, are very weak and compromised. Why am I saying this? If you look at the police, as part of the criminal justice system, they are poorly remunerated. Their tools of trade leave a lot to be desired.”
“If I look at the National Prosecuting Authority, are we remunerating our prosecutors very well to an extent that they can resist a bribe when it is offered to them? The answer is no. Imagine you are a prosecutor, you deal with a high profile case and in the evening, you have to board a kombi to go home. Obviously you are already exposed and you are vulnerable to corrupt tendencies by those that practice corruption.”
“I look at our magistrates, are we remunerating them very well? The answer is no. Therefore, I call on players in the criminal justice system regardless of the position that they hold – indeed all civil servants, we are not saying it is only in the criminal justice system where we find corruption but everywhere people should be motivated to come to work and work diligently,” he said.
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