By Sukuoluhle Ndlovu
The Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development ZIMCODD has initiated the Covid -19 Resource Tracker in their efforts to ensure transparency in the management of Covid -19 resources.
The tracking initiative will be of vital importance so as to answer the unanswered questions being asked by the general public on transparency, accountability and prudent use of Covid -19 resources.
The system can prove to be vital to the success tracking of the National Covid -19 Response Strategy helping to curb corruption and resource leakages in the country.
Covid -19 resources are reported to be lost through flouting of procurement procedures, mismanagement of funds, deepening public mistrust in the government.
In a statement, ZIMCODD noted the tracker will increase public awareness.
“The Covid -19 resource tracker seeks to increase public awareness on Covid -19 resource mobilization and expenditure, to identify and flag the areas of concern and impediments in resource flows. We therefore call for the government to publish a comprehensive Covid-19 distribution matrix detailing all the resources received from development partners and those set aside by the government and how the resources have been used and or distributed.
”Through the tracking efforts, ZIMCODD learnt that the country has enough resources to fight the pandemic as the government received over US$500million from other governments, embassies and development partners to strengthen its Covid -19 response mechanism according to its tracking efforts.
The ZIMCODD tracker is however facing challenges as it is lacking access to official information on Covid -19 resource expenditure thereby overreliance on media reports even though the country largely wants to know on the use of Covid – 19 resources.
To fight corruption, ZACC should be fully capacitated. “The Office of the President OPC as the met governance institution should demonstrate the political will to eradicate corruption by seeing to it that ZACC is fully capacitated to undertake its constitutional mandate without fear or favour,” ZIMCODD noted.
The catch and release phenomena should end this is slowing down the countries development.
Government have since received millions of dollars after the government had extended a begging bowel from the country’s corporate sector, citizens, international organizations and other well-wishers to fund the import of COVID-19 vaccines.
