Govt to gazette State entities Bill

GOVERNMENT is set to kick-start the crafting of the Public Entities Corporate Governance Bill, which will foster adherence to good corporate governance by public entities and regulate remuneration packages for boards and senior members, Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa has said.

The law is also expected to enhance transparency in the financial affairs of public entities.

Minister Chinamasa said the Bill would likely be published in the Government Gazette today.

Responding to inquiries on reports of financial indiscipline within the public sector, Minister Chinamasa said Government was ready to emphatically deal with the scourge of corruption.

“We will come out of it. We will certainly come out of it, which is why now we are emphasising on good corporate governance.

“We now have a Bill which will be published in the Gazette, maybe by Friday, the Public Entities Corporate Governance Bill, basically to target the institutions in Government including parastatals and local authorities,” he said.

Minister Chinamasa said the law would regulate State entities.

“This would include how they should work, even how they would often conduct meetings. What records they should keep. We are almost like beginning to teach people in order for them to absorb these new values and it can be done,” he said.

The Bill was crafted after Government realised that line ministries have failed to put mechanisms in place to ensure that the deficiencies do not recur in their various departments.

This also follows reports from the Auditor-General’s office unearthing ongoing, deep-rooted and far-reaching corporate governance problems across the public sector.

The reports have reportedly noted persistent failure by line ministries, parastatals, State enterprises boards and executive management to adequately or effectively address those problems.