×
NewsDay

AMH is an independent media house free from political ties or outside influence. We have four newspapers: The Zimbabwe Independent, a business weekly published every Friday, The Standard, a weekly published every Sunday, and Southern and NewsDay, our daily newspapers. Each has an online edition.

‘Automate financial systems to enhance transparency’

News
PARASTATAL bosses have been urged to automate their financial systems in order to enhance transparency and accountability in the management of public finances.

BY MIRIAM MANGWAYA

PARASTATAL bosses have been urged to automate their financial systems in order to enhance transparency and accountability in the management of public finances.

This was said last Thursday by the Deputy Auditor-General Nyasha Magadza during the launch of the internal audit awareness month, which was hosted by the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) in Chivhu.

“One of the challenges faced by the auditors both internal and external is to ascertain whether all the manually-generated transactions are accounted for as there is an increased volume of transactions processed,” she said.

“This brings in the urgent need for automation of some processes. As Zinwa, you implement a lot of capital projects which involve huge capital outlays. There is need for dedicated audits to ensure effective procurement processes and inventory management.”

Magadza also said rampant corruption in State-owned enterprises was deterring their efforts to contribute to the country’s gross domestic product.

“It is through parastatals and State enterprises such as yours that government manages the national interest in the key economic sectors. However, corruption has rolled back the progress that is necessary to turnaround our economy in a number of sectors. We all know that corruption is against the fundamentals of good governance which is one of the nine founding values and principles of our Constitution,” she added.

Zinwa chief executive officer Taurai Maurukira said the parastatal was rolling out prepaid water meters to enhance cost-effective water usage and avoid financial leakages through defaulting.

“Prepaid water meters are also a novel innovation we have adopted to improve our operational efficiencies and we hope that resources that have been traditionally used for purposes such as meter reading and statement delivery will now be channelled towards the improvement of service provision,” he said.

“The internal audit function, together with other departments, remains very important in the implementation of this new system, helping us put in place appropriate controls and procedures that will help us derive optimal benefits and at the same time meet the aspirations of our stakeholders.”

  • Follow Miriam on Twitter @FloMangwaya