The African Development Bank will bankroll research into contracts signed by investors, in a revolutionary project which aims to promote contract disclosure in the murky but lucrative mining sector.<\/p>\n
Chairperson of the Mines and Minerals Development portfolio committee Edmund Mukaratigwa revealed that this groundbreaking initiative will roll out from this year to until the year 2023.<\/p>\n
Speaking to delegates at a Publish What You Pay (PWYP) side session on transparency and accountability, at the ongoing Zimbabwe Alternative Mining Indaba (ZAMI) organized by ZELA and partners, he said the project will capacitate parliament.<\/p>\n
He said the tax and accountability enhancement project is cognizant of the fact that there are rampant illicit financial flows in the extractive sector global value chain, which calls for greater transparency and accountability.<\/p>\n
Mukaratigwa said through findings of the research on nature of contracts signed by corporates in the mining sector, parliament will provide necessary recommendations to review of contract policies.<\/p>\n
“The project the Tax and Accountability Enhancement Project (TAEP) targets at equipping Parliament and communities with capacity to understand contracts signed between government and investors.<\/p>\n
“In many cases communities have no access to information on contracts signed by government and mining companies, thus they fail to hold them to account for lack of compliance,” said Mukaratigwa.<\/p>\n
“The TAEP project will commission a research aimed at promoting contract disclosure and contract transparency, this research will be conducted by consultants sponsored and appointed by ADB.<\/p>\n
“Once this is done it will enable implementation on contract transparency it will also enable parliamentarians to identify gaps that may be visible and come up with interventions,” he said.<\/p>\n
Mukaratigwa added that the mining sector despite providing a low hanging fruit for sustainable economic development, improvement of social service delivery, cannot drive development without communities accessing information.<\/p>\n