The impotence of auditing practices in a corrupt environment: some evidence from Zimbabwe

This paper reveals how institutionalised corruption undermines national integrity systems such as the Parliamentary Committees (PC); National Economic Conduct Inspectorate (NECI) to name just two; the auditing profession and overall corporate governance in Zimbabwe. It cites nepotism, cronyism, and political patronage as some of the contributory factors that fuel corruption tendencies in Zimbabwe. It argues that corruption has been institutionalised making it more difficult to eradicate. Recently, political interference has eroded the basis for good corporate governance. Such a development undermined the credibility of accounting and audit practices. The main contribution of the paper includes the use of political science theories to illuminate an auditing problem, drawing from ubuntu philosophy to help inculcate honesty, integrity and accountability in leaders; and finally challenging the accountancy profession and academics to revamp the auditing curriculum to take into account the social, local and global contexts in order to prepare learners for the fight against corruption.