SECTION 141 (a) of the Constitution, the Public Finance Management Act and the Audit Office Act are the main statutes governing public finance management in Zimbabwe.
PARLIAMENT with JOHN MAKAMURE
There are several provisions in these statutes intended to strengthen parliamentary budget oversight. However, the huge problem we continue to face is limited compliance with the legal provisions and delays in aligning public finance legislation with the new Constitution. This has largely contributed to the perpetuation of poor fiscal management in the country.
Chapter 2 of the Constitution speaks to the country’s national objectives. Section 13 of the chapter enjoins on the State and all institutions and agencies of government at every level to facilitate rapid and equitable development.
It goes on to say that any measures to achieve this must involve the people in the formulation and implementation of development plans and programmes that affect them.
It is, therefore, a violation of the Constitution to formulate the National Budget and any other economic blueprints without the participation of Parliament, which is a representative of the people.
Chapter 17 of the Constitution deals with financial management. Section 299 of this Chapter makes it an obligation on the part of Parliament to monitor and oversee expenditure by the State and all commissions and institutions and agencies of government at every level, including statutory bodies, government-controlled entities, provincial and metropolitan councils and local authorities.
Such oversight has to ensure that all revenues are accounted for, all expenditure has been properly incurred and any limits and conditions on appropriations have been observed.
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The same section requires Parliament to enact a law with mechanisms for the legislative branch to monitor and oversee expenditure by all government agencies and commissions.
MPs must therefore revisit the Public Finance Management Act in order to ensure that adequate provisions are included for them to effectively provide financial oversight as required by Section 299.
Section 300 talks about State borrowings, public debt and State guarantees. There is need for an Act of Parliament to set limits on borrowings by the State, the public debts and obligations whose payment or repayment is guaranteed by the State. These limits must not be exceeded without the authority of the National Assembly.
The same section requires the Finance minister to publish in the Government Gazette details of the loan agreement or guarantee within 60 days after he/she has concluded it. He/she must at least twice a year report to Parliament on the performance of loans raised by the State and loans guaranteed by the State.
Furthermore, the Minister must table in Parliament a comprehensive statement of the public debt of Zimbabwe at the same time as the estimates of revenue and expenditure are laid before the National Assembly in terms of section 305. This provision again has not been fully complied with. There has been no comprehensive reporting to Parliament on the performance of Government loans and guarantees in complete violation of Section 300.
Part 4 of the Constitution is about safeguarding public funds and assets. Section 308 stipulates that it is the duty of every person who is responsible for the expenditure of public funds to safeguard the funds and ensure that they are spent only on legally-authorised purposes and in legally-authorised amounts.
It is also the duty of every person who has custody or control of public property to safeguard the property and ensure that it is not lost, destroyed, damaged, misapplied or misused.
An Act of Parliament must provide for the speedy detection of breaches of provisions to safeguard public funds and assets and the disciplining and punishment of persons responsible for any such breaches.
Penalties must be specified in the Act for such breaches. These penalties must be enforced. The auditor-general has already reported rampant abuse of public funds and assets in government ministries and parastatals in her audit reports since 2009.
The onus is on Parliament to follow-up on implementation of Auditor General findings and recommendations.
It is the duty of Members of Parliament to ensure that constitutional bodies, Parliament and other institutions are adequately funded.
Section 325 requires that the commissions and other institutions established by the Constitution are given a reasonable opportunity to make representations to a parliamentary committee regarding the funds to be allocated to them in each financial year. Part 4 of the Public Finance Management Act deal with the preparation and reporting of financial statements by ministries.
There are several provisions compelling ministries and departments to submit monthly and quarterly financial statements and reports to their portfolio committees within prescribed periods.
These provisions have largely been ignored. The Finance and Economic Development ministry is the biggest culprit when it comes to non-compliance when it is the same ministry that has to oversee enforcement of the Act. The few financial statements that have been submitted are very thin on detail. There are no accompanying reports to the statements as required under Public Finance Management Act.
The regulations are still to be finalised since the Public Finance Management Act came into effect in 2009.
