Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development minister Amon Murwira yesterday implored Zimbabweans to have confidence in their own abilities, focus on the future rather than the past and contribute as part of a team to improving the country’s resources.
Murwira was speaking at the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Chartered Governance and Accountancy Institute in Zimbabwe (CGIZ), the African Professionalisation Initiative (API) and the Management Training Bureau for the professionalisation of the public sector.
Murwira, in his keynote address, also stressed on the importance of action buttressed by teamwork.
“We have brilliant people. Why is it we have not done as well as we would want to?”
The answer, he said, was that people had not been networked. They were working as individuals rather than as members of a team.
“It’s not about being number one. The strength of networking is important,” he said.
He criticised those who looked back nostalgically on the past rather than looking to the future.
“Let’s talk about the future. Let’s not be nostalgic. Let’s be futuristic,” he said, adding that what was gone, was gone.
- Underfunding of national projects irks Research Council
- Be confident in yourselves, Zimbos urged
Keep Reading
“Build your own country. Sometimes people go off on a tangent. Who do you want to build your country?” he asked, adding that the resources the country had belonged to them.
“It is an effect of colonisation that tells people they have to get things from elsewhere,” he said.
Public Accountants and Auditors Board secretary Admire Ndurunduru pointed out how public sector finances affect everyone.
He appealed for action to follow the commitments made in the MoU.
Ndurunduru said that, while it had been pointed out that Zimbabwe had invested heavily in education, educated Zimbabweans were running down the country.
CGIZ chief executive Lovemore Gomera said his organisation was working with universities and partnering, among others, the Corporate Governance Unit in the Office of the President and Cabinet and the Deposit Protection Corporation.
In addition to its chartered governance professional/corporate secretarial practice qualification and chartered governance professional accountant qualification, it offered a public sector accounting qualification, business and accounting studies qualification, diploma in forensic accounting qualification and governance, risk and compliance qualification.
Management Training Bureau executive director Nelson Maseko said there was the potential for the partnership between the bureau, API and CGIZ to be extended to other African countries.
Ndurunduru emphasised the importance of those who obtained degrees in accountancy training as professionals under professional bodies such as CGIZ.
He said there were eight professional accountancy bodies in Zimbabwe.
Earlier, API head Evans Mulera had said that Zimbabwe was a shining light on the African continent. He added that the country had invested heavily in education and was highly respected for the high quality of professionals it produces.
