The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Wildlife and Tourism, Samuel Rathedi, has indicated that corruption is a worrying concern in many government departments and is regarded as bad conduct that has negative outcomes in the economy.
Rathedi, who was launching the Ministry’s Corruption Prevention Committee (MCPC) last Thursday during the Therisanyo 2009 workshop in Francistown, indicated that, as the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, they found it crucial that they combat the scam before it affects their Ministry.
He pointed out that corruption in many cases affected government funds as millions went down the drain.
Rathedi alluded to some corruption practices, such as during the awarding of some government tenders.
“Most of the time, these companies do not finish their services as per contracts. They end up closing down or, sometimes, providing services of poor quality,” he said.
He urged his ministry and the participants to reflect and be conscious not to engage in corrupt practices, but to be responsible citizens who should contribute positively to the growth of the economy.
Rathedi pointed out that by launching the Ministry’s Corruption Prevention Committee, it would be easier to keep watch over any misconduct. He emphasized that, in his ministry, they were some departments that needed to be kept an eye on, like the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessments), which he indicated as possible prey to corruption malpractices.
“A company may dump poisonous or hazardous deposits in the environment and find their way out through corruption practices to the EIA,” he said.
Rathedi went on to explain that most of the people who were involved in corruption practices were very strategic and very advanced and in this committee proactive measures were put in force to combat the scam.
He highlighted that if corruption was to be neglected, it would harm all the ministries, particularly the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, which deals with the tourism industry. This, he said, would later backfire on the economy.
He illustrated that corruption eradication was every citizen’s responsibility. He explained that every employee was responsible for fighting corruption relentlessly, tirelessly and fearlessly, adding that the MCPC was an initiative by the government to make sure that each and every ministry forms corruption fighting committees.
