THE Ministry of Justice has urged members of staff to familiarize themselves with the code of ethics for the public service as a measure to curb corruption. Ministry of Justice Permanent Secretary for Administration, Thandiwe Oteng said knowing the code of ethics would help to address unethical behavior, which had potential to breed corruption at the institution.
Ms. Oteng said in a speech read on her behalf by Director Human Resource and Administration, Doreen Matambo, that corruption in any form hampered the growth of the country in many ways hence the need to
ensure professionalism, integrity and zero tolerance to corruption in execution of duties among all staff members. She said this during the launch of a sensitization workshop on corruption in Lusaka yesterday.
“We know that corruption is a vice that has hampered the growth of our country in many ways. I am delighted that in the sensitization workshop schedule, we have topics on corruption phenomenon, Integrity Committee programs for Zambia, administrative ethics as well as the Service Charter,” Ms. Oteng said.
She said documents such as the Service Charter and Gift Policy are key in the fight against corruption, adding that the Ministry’s Integrity Committee is responsible for reviewing such policy documents. Ms. Oteng said she was confident that after the workshop, members of staff would move together in the fight against corruption.
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Acting Director General Rosemary Kuzwayo said to successfully eliminate corruption in the country, there was need for a holistic approach by all sectors of society in order to enhance, transparency, integrity and accountability.
Ms. Kuzwayo said it was imperative to equip the public service with the right information and skills required to effectively fight the scourge of corruption. In a speech read on her behalf by ACC Acting Director, Corruption
Prevention Department Glenda Mungalaba, Ms. Khuzwayo said the Integrity Committee programme had been rolled out to 118 institutions since inception in 2006.
“One of the roles of the Integrity Committee is to be responsible for the production and implementation of institutional Annual Corruption Prevention Action Plan in consultation with senior management and the ACC,” she said.
