Story by Tambaoga Gora
THE Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Mr Nick Mangwana has underscored the need for risk policies in government departments to ensure effective implementation of set objectives.
Mr Mangwana made the call while officiating at the Ministry’s Enterprise Risk Management Workshop at the Zimbabwe Institute of Public Administration Management in Darwendale this Thursday.
He noted that training is critical in promoting a coherent approach to the adoption of risk management and understanding the requirements and mitigation of risk.
“The development of the Risk Management Policy and risk register are critical outputs envisaged to come from the exercise. The policy shall critically examine our internal controls, roles and responsibilities, and it shall also embed a risk culture. With the necessary risk protocols and risk architecture,” said Mr Mangwana.
Workshop facilitator, Dr Moses Chundu unpacked some of the main risk factors associated with public institutions.
“In government, we are talking about what we call the most common types of risk. The first one that featured most is what we call technology risk, the risk that our machines can fail in the process and we lose all the information.
“The second one is the cyber security risk, we are talking of potential attacks on our systems that have a bearing on our security. The third one is the infrastructure risk which is a major risk in public services, the possibility that our systems, roads, and buildings can fail and harm people and the fourth one is employees risk,” explained Dr Chundu.
The training programme is in line with provisions of the law that speak to the management of public finances.
