Nobleman Runyanga

The Parliament of Zimbabwe’s Standing Rules and Orders Committee has invited members of the public to nominate people who could be considered for appointment as commissioners to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

This came out in a notice issued by the parliament this week. The announcement comes two weeks after the resignation of the previous Chairman, Dr Job Whabira and the entire Commission on 31 January 2019, which the President accepted.

“The Standing Rules and Orders Committee of the Parliament of Zimbabwe is mandated in terms of sections 237 and 254 of the Constitution to nominate candidates for appointment by his Excellency the President to serve as Commissioners on the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (as) provided for in Chapter 13 Part 1 of the Constitution,” read part of the notice.

The Parliament specified that would be nominees should be chosen on the basis of their integrity, knowledge and experience.

“Members of the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission must be chosen for their integrity and their knowledge of and experience in (the) administration or the prosecution or investigation of crime or for their general suitability for appointment and (a) at least one must be qualified to practise as a legal practitioner in Zimbabwe and have been so qualified for at least seven years, (b) at least one must be qualified to practise as a public accountant or public auditor in Zimbabwe and have been so qualified for at least seven years and (c) at least one must be a person with at least ten years’ experience in the investigation of crime,” indicated Parliament.

Parliament outlined that members of the public who wished to participate in nominating candidates needed to complete nomination forms which are obtainable from Parliament or downloadable from its website.

“Nomination material must consist of a typewritten submission of no more than A4 pages long stating why the person nominated is a suitable candidate together with a completed nomination form which can be obtained at Parliament offices or downloaded from the website: www.parlzim.gov.zw. Nominations must be addressed to the Clerk of Parliament in envelopes clearly marked with the name of the Commission and delivered or emailed to the Clerk of Parliament,” Parliament said in the notice.

The development comes on the back of complaints by members of the public that the previous commission, which was appointed by the previous administration, had not done much to fight and investigate corruption as well as prosecuting suspected offenders.