Last year an audit company called HLB Ruzengwe and Company was engaged by The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) to carry out a forensic audit on ZIMRA operations. The auditors produced a damning report which showed that some of the top employees of the authority were involved in corruption. A number of those implicated were suspended or fired and this included top management. The auditor report was widely publicised with members of public providing input on proposed corrective actions. We provided input on the need to establish a whistle blowing facility. A facility where members of public can submit evidence of ZIMRA employees engaging in corruption. A facility where you can phone, send an email or simply walk in with evidence.

The importance of this initiative being to reduce corruption through reporting. We believe that corruption should be reported and action taken against corrupt officials. Now the good news is that ZIMRA has established a Whistle Blowing facility where members of the public are invited to provide information anonymously.

ZIMRA last week started flighting an advert on local television inviting members of the public to report on any corrupt activities by ZIMRA officials- we call this excellent stuff!

Why is this Excellent News?

This means that members of public are now involved in the fight against corruption by ZIMRA Officials. This will bring accountability of all funds collected; the hope is that this will reduce corruption. Corruption by nature is difficult to eliminate but this measure will make it difficult for officials working for ZIMRA to engage in fraud because they may not know who will report them. Members of public are now empowered to report on corruption because they know where to report it!

Suggestions to ZIMRA

We feel that the Whistle Blowing Facility can be improved because only a few people have access to news. This writer has seen the advert twice but failed to get the email address of where to send concerns or information.

1. Official Launch: This important milestone should be officially launched by the Minister of Finance as this will show commitment to fighting corruption. The official launch would show that the facility receives support from ministerial level. Members of public are likely to give support when they see high level support.
2. Why Report Corruption: The Message should be clear on corruption. Why fight corruption? What happens when there is corruption? Why report corruption and how to do it? The public should understand why this is being done so that they can own the initiative. Benefits of fighting corruption should be clearly articulated.
3. Construct Bill Boards: ZIMRA should consider constructing large bill boards and place them at all border posts. The bill boards should clearly provide details of where to send information on corruption
4. Use of ZIMRA Website: The ZIMRA website www.zimra.co.zw should have details of where to report fraud
5. Facebook Page: ZRP has a Facebook Page where they engage members of the public. We would like to encourage ZIMRA to create a page where they can engage members of the public on the corruption fight
6. Radio Adverts: The current situation of only using the television to flight adverts is leaving out many people especially those in rural areas. We therefore encourage the use of radios such as Radio Zimbabwe so that the message can reach more people.
7. Radio Programmes: In addition to radio and television adverts, they engage members of the public by running radio or television programmes where they engage members of the public through phone in sessions, quiz and prizes
8. Report on Fraud: ZIMRA does an excellent job of reporting performance every quarter, they are not afraid to report on underperformance too. They can add a section on the report to report on Fraud. The number of anonymous tips received, cases reported for disciplinary action or number of employees implicated or relieved of their duties etc. This will give evidence to members of public that the whistle blowing facility is working.

We hope that ZIMRA will consider some of our recommendations because the fight against corruption involves working with everyone. The television advert is a good starting point, more should be done to sensitise and engage the public.

So I have studied websites for a while, checking out some of the best websites on earth. I have also done a review of some of the websites that we have in Zimbabwe comparing them against the best in the world. What is my verdict? My verdict is that our websites are not good enough and this ironically includes this ZBIN websites!

Why do we have terrible websites around?

It seems anyone can develop a website in Zimbabwe which is plus because this removes barriers in the industry-there is however a downside to this- quality of websites is compromised.

Below are my top 7 reasons why we have terrible websites

1. Business sector still to appreciate the importance of websites
2. Website developers are mostly IT personnel with little understanding of business
3. No industry standards leading to poor quality
4. Clients not fully aware of what they need from websites
5. No proper training and follow ups by developers
6. Developers do not make it easy for clients to update material on websites
7. Unethical practices from some website developers

Top Qualities of a website: Consider your website as a ‘live receptionist’ someone who can talk to clients, smile to them-ask questions or reply. Someone who can answer questions promptly.

Why should people visit your website?:So in your business you have a target audience or target market? We expect your website to give them information which I can categorise in the following levels:

Level One-Basic Information:

Basic information includes who the organisation is, contact details,location, products sold and prices, pictures etc

Level Two-Interactive

Level 2 is the next stage-after getting basic knowledge about your website why should I come back? I should come back for promotions, updates, resources or for fun. I remember during my college days in Bulawayo. As students we used to frequent a popular shop called Haddon and Sly, why did we go to this shop? The reasons are many-to while up time whilst waiting for transport to the campus, the air conditioner helped in cooling off, just to check out the beautiful ladies who worked in the shop lol, to find out latest products, to check out discounts, for some it was a meeting place, for some to reduce stress. I can spend the whole day explaining why this popular shop was always full.

Now for level 2 let’s call it the Haddon and Sly Experience-you should apply it to your website. Level one is just window shopping, folks just seeing basic information and walking away. Level two is about customers getting into the Bulawayo shop and experience more benefits. At the end of the day being a win-win situation!

1. Create an Update Section: One easy way to promote your website is content marketing whereby you write articles that are helpful to customers. If it is a hardware website, I expect to see a section that updates clients of upcoming promotions, helpful tips, donations done by the company etc
2. Comments Section: The comments section allows visitors to give you important feedback, some may be customers with concerns which need to be addressed. Customers/clients need to know that there is a ‘person’ behind the website-someone with feelings, someone who can answer, someone who can talk to them. A website should not be dead!
3. Resources Centre: A friend of mine has a website for his company, the company sells mining equipment. I have asked him to put a resource centre that helps customers in with information on installing mining equipment, repairs, latest trends on mining equipment, common problems with mining equipment. Most of visitors to his website are miners so I asked him to put a price tracker of minerals, mining news etc. These resources will help visitors to have a Haddon and Sly experience and come back.
4. Website Forum: ZBIN will be creating one in future, a forum which allows us and members to post topics and responses. This should allow visitors to exchange ideas on investment and business. You can have one for your site which can help attract clients because after participation on the forum then they can visit other website areas such as your advert sections.

I have given you 4 tips but there are a lot more that you can do to attract visitors to your website. You need to move from level 1 to level 2 if you would like to reap benefits from having a website. So when reviewing a website just ask yourself which level the website is at? When engaging a website developer ask for reference of websites previously developed and check the level.

So which level is ZBIN at? The answer is that we are still at 1- embarrassing stuff but the good news is that we know it and we will be taking corrective action in the coming months as we try and develop probably the best business website in Southern Africa.