ANESU MASAMVU
Auditor General Mildred Chiri said she is neither scared nor intimidated by corrupt individuals and cartels exposed in her damning reports that have shown how rampant cases of lack of transparency and fraud are in government ministries and parastatals.
Chiri has exposed bigwigs, ministries, parastatals and private firms in her reports that prove Zimbabwe has lost billions of dollars due to leakages and lack of accountability.
She told Business Times this week that despite stepping on several toes in exposing corrupt individuals and entities, some potentially dangerous, she remains unshaken and her conscience is clear as she was only doing it for the good of the country.
“That is a difficult question but what I can say is that if you stand by what you do and you have a clear conscience on what you are doing, it is not something you are reinventing and by saying it out, it is not like you want to really expose anyone but it is an effort to ensure that a gap is closed and addressed,” Chiri said.
“In as far as transparency is concerned, it is up to how people want to view it. If they think that it is now a ground for an attack, then the world is upside down and it is like all of us are losing our integrity,” she added.
Chiri insisted she will continue to expose corruption without fear or favour.
“It is necessary and somehow, someone would have to say it even if I am not to say it myself. Someone who comes after me will say it because this is something in the constitution. It is my mandate and if I do not do it, I am being negligent,” she said.
Chiri said her office was working well with other institutions tasked with fighting corruption including the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission but immediately bemoaned slow pace in ensuring those involved are brought to book.
“I think I would say we are seeing some traction. There is some improvement in addressing the issues that we are raising though they are areas that are a cause for concern but by and large there is some improvement.”
She said her office will soon start the 2022 audits.
