By ANDREW PHIRI? –
THE Zambia Institute of Purchasing and Supply (ZIPS) has urged procurement officers to desist from engaging in corrupt activities despite being vulnerable to the vice through their professional?practice.
ZIPS president George Mumba urged his members to strive to be whistle blowers of corruption in the sector instead of being drivers of the vice.
He said this in an interview when commenting on the latest Transparency International of Zambia (TIZ) corruption index report.
“I want to see more procurement officers coming to the fore saying that vendor x wanted to bribe me, the officers must begin to question the bribes,” Mr Mumba said.
He said the institute would also strive to ensure that their members did not engage in double standards through continuous training of its members countrywide on best practices in the profession.
‘‘Members of the institute must maintain the status quo by not accepting bribes from their clients, the members must remember that corruption is a cancer which can negatively affect the country’s?service delivery system,’’ he said.
Mr Mumba said his members should realise that serving the people in the country through this profession as buyers was a calling.
‘‘As buyers or procurement officers as we do our work, people must appreciate that it is a calling for us to do it and it is not because we want to make money out of it,’’ he said.
He said he was happy that members of the institute had not been ranked amongst the most corrupt in the country.