Ministry launches anti-corruption policy

Lawrence Seretse | Wednesday November 6, 2013 17:04

 

Maphanyane pointed out that many government employees have been tempted to steal public funds. She said a number of them were arrested and some dismissed from work.

“We were fortunate enough to get hold of some whom we subjected to our internal process…I may not say the exact figure of officials we have dismissed or suspended on corruption crime but I make it known that we have grappled with many allegations and suspicions of crimes against our employees,” she said. Maphanyane said while some employees were fired, some were forced to resign when realizing that the odds were stacked against them. But some culprits were still in office because of inadequate evidence, she said, quipping, “You know how slippery corruption is.”

The Anti-Corruption Policy will provide guiding principles on the commitments of MIST in curbing fraud and corruption in doing business with its stakeholders.

The policy document expounds on the corruption prone risk areas such as financial management systems and procedures where there is collection of revenue, procurement and asset disposal system in issues of tendering and procurement, human resource management where there are issues of recruitment and promotion of staff. The list is inexhaustible.

The policy was first drafted in 2010 and has been going through a pilot phase within government departments.