Times of Zambia | Misuse of public funds worrying

Published On March 10, 2014 » 2498 Views» By Moses Kabaila Jr: Online Editor » Letters to the Editor

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NAWAKWI

I WISH to make reference to the story published in the Zambia Daily Mail edition of March 5, 20014, headlined ‘PAC warns against corruption.
Please allow me to make my concerns known through your media and bring to your attention my disappointment and frustration regarding to audit queries cited in the 2012 Auditor General’s report.
Surely this is unacceptable and no Government or company can tolerate such deliberate financial irregularities.
To me these were planned and intentional frauds if I may call them.
For instance, how can one get salary advance and imprest without recovery and retirement respectively that is purely day-light theft.
The controlling officers might have benefited from these financial irregularities.
I strongly edge the Government through PAC to consider getting to the root of these irregularities and punish the culprits.
If the figures read on the paper are true, then Government and PAC have an enormous task ahead.
However, it is not long ago when I gave a plus to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), especially to the chairperson who in my view gave a brilliant thought and address on the mis-appropriation of the Copperbelt Poverty Reduction Funds (CPRF) (about K75 Million) to the benefit of the selected greedy and selfish officers in the province.
Now again, it’s Western Province and how can the committee allow such huge sums of tax payers’ resources and donor funds to the Government be mis-appropriated at the expense of national development and I wonder why the controlling officer went without punitive action to give lessons to others in the same capacity.
If PAC with the help of the Auditor General’s office can’t seriously action over such sensitive issues on erring controlling officers, then PAC’s existence is questionable.
PAC, you have the authoritative legislative mandate and responsibility to regulate and punish erring controlling officers without fear or favour involved in such colossal financial irregularities to the benefit of Government and tax payers’ resources, above all donor funds and national development.
Once again put more pressure and make the erring controlling officers to pay for their incompetency and wrong doings.
Moreover, by doing so, bureaucratic tendencies and mis-appropriation of Government funds will drastically reduce and hence poverty and unemployment levels will be reduced in Zambia.
However, such audit amounts cited in the audit report are too high for the controlling officers to go without punitive action by the PAC or if anything PAC should recommend punitive action to the Government.
Moreover, this will add more value to the song of accountability in the disbursement of funds for intended purposes.
I also agree with FDD President Edith Nawakwi on the sentiments she made that it is saddening to cancel live coverage of the PAC proceedings; I only hope it was due to technical error or fault and that it will resume in the next sitting.
Zambians want to get first hand information on cited audit queries proceedings on camera.
PAC should not make us speculate that they have been bought by the erring controlling officers not to put on camera the proceedings.
Live coverage of the PAC proceedings is the effective way of making erring controlling officers accountable for every coin released to them by government for national development.
Now we are anxiously waiting to see, Muchinga, Central, Lusaka and other controlling officers (Permanent Secretaries) to appear before your humble and committed committee on the same year’s (2012 audit report) cited audit queries by the Auditor General’s office.
Moreover, the controlling officers again must at all times be reminded that Zambia is in a hurry to reducing and eradicating poverty, unemployment, corruption and HIV/AIDS epidemic which is one of the global nuisance, and Auditor General’s office is a tool especially where government and donor funds for national developmental projects are concern.
On the contrary, the doctrine of being loyal to political leadership is intended to deviate attention from seeking appropriate methods of addressing real economic and socio challenges by the controlling officers in ministries and provinces.
However, Auditor General’s office must not accept to be dictated and intimidated by selfish and greedy controlling officers and refuse to be the dumping ground for corruption; and eventually need to deal with such incompetent controlling officers firmly and diligently, but under a different accounting professional approach and order for the legislators (Parliament – PAC) to act on them diligently.