The Rusape Town Council held an Integrity familiarisation workshop recently. The Integrity familiarisation workshop was held with the broader view aimed towards propagating good corporate governance values across all Council departmental operations. The major objective of the workshop was to establish a vibrant Integrity Committee. The Integrity Committee is charged with overseeing the promotion of ethical conduct, creating safeguards to guard against corruption, malpractices and mismanagement across all Council operations. The establishment of the Integrity Committee in Council came after the realisation by the Anti-corruption watchdog, ZACC that most public entities are operating without Integrity Committees. ZACC noted with concern that the absence of integrity committees in public entities was fuelling corruption, mismanagement and malpractices. Rusape Town Council heeded the call by ZACC and initiated the Integrity Familiarisation Workshop. Under the guidance of the seasoned workshop facilitator Mr Samanjese from the Public Service Commission, delegates were mostly made up of the Council Chairperson, Councillors, Council management and officials from the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing. It was determined that the newly promulgated Integrity Committee should be well-resourced in order for its work to be impactful hence the need to incorporate its activities in the strategic plan. Council scored a first by being the first local authority in the country to set up the Integrity Committee.

The Integrity Committee has a full bucket list of things to attend to chief among them includes coming up with a whistle-blowing policy, complaints handling policy and conducting integrity surveys. The major thrust of the committee is to prevent and curb incidents of corruption, mismanagement and malpractices by promoting a culture of good corporate governance and strict adherence to ethical codes during the course of conducting Council business. Furthermore, the Integrity Committee is charged with continuously assessing the ethical culture, advising Council management about integrity management, publishing best practices in integrity management, monitoring compliance with the code of conduct, coordinating
investigations into malpractices, assisting in addressing ethical dilemmas, meeting directly with the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee and providing quarterly updates in relation to ethical matters including code breaches. The committee operates under the auspices of the Town Secretary and is empowered to instigate investigations into matters within its scope of responsibility which includes meeting and obtaining any information it requires from staff, management and 24 executive. It is also mandated to develop training materials, case studies and other
tools which enhance integrity. The establishment of the Integrity Committee is expected to go a long way in limiting the risks of the occurrence of corporate malpractices within Council and this is expected to augment the already existing good corporate governance
culture. In addition, the committee is expected to beef up good working relations with the national corruption and ethics watchdog, ZACC thereby promoting a zero-tolerance culture for any forms of unethical conduct hence the importance
attached to the Integrity Committee.