Opinion- ZACC should look into UN mushikashika tri...

Opinion- ZACC should look into UN mushikashika trip national ignominy

Monica Cheru

The embarrassment of mushikashika for trips to the United Nations by Government officials should be a loud whistle for full investigation into how trips are being authorized.

Zimbabwe is suffering international mortification after the United Nations Secretariat in New York requested that Government reins in its officials from pestering the office for trips.

A leaked letter from Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement, Dr John Basera, put the matter into the public domain.

“The United Nations Secretariat has complained to our mission in New York over the conduct of some Government Officials who directly contact the Secretariat soliciting to attend UN meetings,” wrote Dr Basera.

Besides the main United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) there are several sectoral meetings held throughout the year.

In his communication, Dr Basera goes on to direct the importune officials to stop the embarrassing actions.

“The behaviour is unprocedural, and, undiplomatic and Government. Officials are hereby directed to desist from such behaviour.”

Government officials traveling to the 77th session UNGA which started today are reportedly getting per diems of US$10,000 each, explaining why officials would desperately canvass for trips.

Who authorizes clearly unnecessary trips?

In a classic addition of insult to injury then rubbing it in, after lobbying for the trips, the officials are apparently playing hooky and not bothering to attend the sessions they would have travelled for.

“It is also of concern that there are other scenarios where officials traveling to New York for UN sessions end up attending the sessions virtually or attending the sessions out of time, and attending closing sessions. This is unnecessary wastage of resources,” wrote Dr Basera.

Which beggars the question why government is clearing trips that can be attended virtually in the first place. If the officials can so blithely skip carrying out their reason for travel, this implies that the trips are not a necessity.

Obviously, there is need for an assessment of the trip awards system. Who authorizes these trips? What justification is there for physical presence at trips that can be attended virtually?

The whole thing smacks of collusion, patronage and abuse of office.

In February this year, President Mnangagwa cautioned ministers and senior officials about unnecessary trips. That implies that the per diem scramble goes all the way to the top in the ministries.

Travel for per diems by lesser officials cannot happen without the ministers and permanent secretaries being part of the rot.

Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission audit is just the thing needed to ensure that scarce resources are not wasted on self-aggrandizement.

Rein in all public entities

The rot is not just in Government. Public entity spending on trips is a sore topic for many Zimbabweans.

Harare Residents Trust (HRT) director, Precious Shumba, has called out municipal authorities on choosing to spend money on unnecessary travel at the expense of service delivery.

“The Harare Residents Trust is increasingly concerned about the number of workshops being held by the City of Harare in other towns despite the fact that the City of Harare has ideal venues to host workshops to deal with Harare issues,” said Mr Shumba.

This comes after the announcement of a two-day councillor’s meeting. The gathering will chew up US$387,500 at a time when service delivery is way below standard with water delivery and garbage disposal inefficiencies rife.

While digital meetings have their setbacks, they should be considered a permanent business culture, and not a Covid-19 induced aberration.

Remuneration is a pain point for the majority of workers in Government and other public entities. Therefore, people at the top should not be allowed to create their own personal revenue streams while telling the lower-level workers with no access to opportunities like foreign travel and massive per diems to keep holding on for a better day.

Such loopholes in governance systems create spaces that are not just open season looting havens, but they also enable other challenges like sexual abuse.

Procedure, transparency and accountability

There is need for a standard to ensure that all travel on public funds has benefit to the public, and not just an official getting per diems. There should be clear guidelines on budget caps, number of trips each individual can make in a given period and deliverables at the end of each.

Those in oversight roles should also practice constant watchdog surveillance to ensure that they are not approving travel based on kickbacks.

Finally, regular public declaration of trips undertaken by each ministry citing names and position of travellers, cost and benefits accrued from the trip should become standard.

If the president’s trips are public information, why should lesser government figures get away with clandestine flights?