With revenue collection likely to decline further because of the contracting private sector and low foreign direct investment which is estimated to have declined to $399 million in 2015; the public sector is all that Government has at the moment.
Cleaning up its systems and making the sector work will move Government from being a revenue collector to a revenue generator. However, the public sector has been in the news for all the wrong reasons over the past couple of days.
What came out clear, without going much into detail, is that patronage is still intact in spite of all the talk about reforms.
Getting rid of this will clear the way for significant turnaround as experiences in this country have shown that this is where corruption starts.
This week two ministers announced board changes; Transport (Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe and Air Zimbabwe) and Mines and Mining Development (Hwange Colliery Company). While this is just routine, we believe leaving ministers to appoint board members is directly promoting corruption as it creates and feeds a patronage system.
It’s high time that Government looks into the setting up of an independent commission where qualified Zimbabweans can apply for various board positions within State Enterprises and go through a public interview in much the same way that the interviews for commissions have been done.
Board members should be appointed in the same way executives are employed so as to minimise under-performance. Boards are there to drive performance and not for blind loyalty.
Government may also need to take a firm stand and demand reasonable and justifiable explanations from ministers wishing to change boards, which at times can be disruptive to ongoing plans.
There is a possibility that once people have been hand-picked and installed, not necessarily on merit, but on account of who they know in powerful circles, there is less value contribution towards achieving set objective or goals, but maintaining loyalty.
Rather, new ministers need to look at ways of strengthening boards of institutions falling under ministries which they superintend, by critically looking at weaknesses of current personnel and seeking to infuse fresh competency where it is found to lack, meaning critical analysis and evaluation should be done first.
Further, the Government must also see to it that experienced and knowledgeable individuals are appointed to the boards of State institutions or entities so that they help drive vision, objectives and goals of the institutions in the national interest.
For companies, directors have challenging responsibilities ranging from leadership, oversight on management and strategic guidance therefore making considered selection of such individuals to lead these State institutions on merit is very critical.
It is also quite prudent to have public institutions that are run by technocrats who are competent with capacity to turn things around.
We also believe that regulatory and governance frameworks of public enterprises in the country needs further re-alignment to flush out deficits relating to boundaries and responsibilities of line ministries.
The boundaries between line ministries and parastatals needs clear delineation to quicken decision making on matters relating to public enterprise restructuring and appointment of new boards.
It also helps in solving cases where a minister can just give an instruction to a parastatals as was the case in the Energy Ministry.
Those appointed as directors and managers should be given space to operate without undue influence from line ministries.