Story by Wellington Makonese
A call has been made for regional Public Accounts Committees and Auditor Generals to maintain their integrity by performing a robust oversight role on public entities’ use of public funds.
This Wednesday saw SADC Public Accounts Committees and Auditor Generals engage on ways to enhance their oversight role on public finance functions.
Speaker of the National Assembly, Advocate Jacob Mudenda, who officially opened proceedings in Harare, urged members to maintain the integrity of the institutions which are the cornerstone of democratic oversight.
“Transparency and integrity are a virtue as we continue to execute the calls for democracy. Checks and balances regarding the accountability for the use of public resources rarely rests on the shoulders of the public accounts committees and they’re rightly supported by the auditor general. Of course, the oversight role of other select committees, must always embellish the sterling work of these two statutory bodies, namely the public accounts committee and the auditor general’s offices for purposes of enhancing the prudential stewardship of public resources.
“With that in exchange, honourable members, all our institutions are immediately subscribed to sign compact constitutional provisions of territorially striving to, ‘distinguish itself as an organisation in empowering members of each member state to effectively carry out their functions of the oversight committee over public sector finance as well as promoting good governance.’ That is why, honourable members, prominent personalities in public figures worldwide have accentuated the vital role of public accounts committees in maintaining the dignity of government public finances and promoting good governance,” he said.
He spoke volumes on the significance of monitoring climate related financing.
He added, “As Members of Public Accounts Committees, you have a solemn responsibility to ensure that governments’ financial policy decisions and resource allocations reflect a commitment to environmental sustainability in the context of the Nationally Determined Contributions whose goal is to ensure that world temperature stays below 1.5⁰C as subsumed in the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
“In that respect, it is no longer sufficient to merely scrutinise the national balance sheets and expenditure reports. You must broaden your scope and delve into the effectiveness of government policies and the environmental laws that are geared to mitigate negative climate change impacts. Of necessity, you must integrate climate action considerations into your audit processes and oversight mechanisms. Your committees should, therefore, ensure that the governments’ climate-related actions and policies address the needs and concerns of the most vulnerable populations.”
Members expressed commitment to foster regional integration and promote transparency in governance.
“Transparency and good governance promoting is a key part of the engagements. Our aim is to explore ways to enhance cooperation, having good functions, tax policing and trade partnerships public finance management and enhance public awareness among other areas. Transparency is the foundation of public trust hence critical to have high standards,” said SADCOPAC chairperson, Honourable Warren Mwambazi.
Public Accounts Committee chairperson, Honourable Charlton Hwende said, “Peer learning and strengthening regional collaboration is an important aspect of this workshop. It comes at a time we have new members who need guidance over how to effectively execute our roles. This program is a commitment to enhancing our knowledge, improvement and ensuring we effectively carry out our duty towards public sector management, so we hope to enhance our integration to be effective.”
Public Accounts committees are mandated to play an oversight role over all revenue and expenditure by government, commissions, institutions and agencies of government at every level to ensure accountability.
