Proposed ports authority set to curb illicit activities

ZIMBABWE should urgently craft legislation to operationalise the proposed Inland Water and Ports Authority that will monitor and curb illicit activities such as smuggling, a legislator has said.

Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Transport and Infrastructural Development, Mr Dexter Nduna, said in an interview that establishment of the proposed authority was crucial in curbing abuse of inland waters and illicit activities that are a threat to the economy and country’s security.

In an interview at the Inland Water and Port Authority exhibition stand at the just ended Zimbabwe International Trade Fair, the Chegutu West legislator said:

“We are trying to see the capacity of this department to police the inland waters and ports in Zimbabwe in terms of seeing what it is that gives birth to an Act of Parliament for this department and also supporting it with equipment to monitor activities on the waters”.

Mr Nduna said it was their suspicion that a lot of illicit activities including smuggling of minerals, and externalisation of revenue, were being conducted through the inland waters as there were no records of arrests on such bodies.

“Certainly there is a lot that is happening within our inland waters as you would know that there is a lot of gold smuggling through the borders. You would have noted that at Plumtree border post there has been a lot of arrests that have been conducted there.

“But there has not been any arrest on the waters and it leaves one wondering if there has been any illicit outflows conducted from Zimbabwe through this conduit, which is the waters because of non-availability of monitoring, security and nonavailability of inspections of all the boats that are going through our waters,” he said.

Mr Nduna said there was a need for the country to eradicate illicit outflows, revenue leakages, crime and all the shenanigans on Zimbabwe’s waters.

As such he said his committee would extensively discuss in Parliament and compile a report advocating for an Act on inland waters.

He said at the moment the country lacked equipment such as towers to monitor activities on inland waters.

“We are lagging behind in terms of equipping our inland waters. South Africa, for example, is way ahead because they have got a naval security to add onto their vehicle inspection department.

“So, really as a nation we are lagging behind but it is not too late to catch up in order to annihilate any would be activities on those waters,” said Mr Nduna. — @okazunga