By Own Correspondent| Auditor-General, Mrs Mildred Chiri has called for transparency in procurement processes saying that corruption has had a huge adverse impact on the country’s growth.

Mrs Chiri told the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supplies (CIPS) 2019 annual congress in Bulawayo on Thursday that procurement was the cornerstone of economic development and yet the most vulnerable to corruption. She said:

The direct costs of corruption manifest in… loss of public funds through misallocations or higher expenses as well as lower quality of goods, services and works. Suppliers pay bribes in order to secure contracts but recover these through inflated prices, billing for work which was not performed.

They deliver work which is substandard by reducing quality of work or using inferior materials. As a result, the costs are exaggerated and quality of work is compromised. Such haemorrhage retards economic growth and development.

In most of her previous reports, Mrs Chiri reported massive corruption in most government departments and parastatals which robbed the country of millions of United States dollars.

She has been constantly recommending ways to address corruption, surprisingly, maladministration has been a recurring issue in her reports, a sign that authorities have no political will to implement her recommendations. 

-StateMedia