Regional accounting officers met yesterday with the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and many acknowledged the shortcomings of their respective regions with regard to financial management and highlighted their challenges, with the most noted being issues with the national tender board.
Yesterday’s meeting targeted Regional Executive Officers (REOs) and the respective chairpersons of the regions to address core financial management issues being faced at the regional level. The majority of officials, in presenting their challenges to the commission, cited difficulties with the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB). Where inefficiencies were highlighted, the officials were advised on their expected course of action.
Listed among their complaints were issues of being either unable to access NPTAB documents—specifically the minutes—or, in the instances where they were able to, receiving them months after they were requested; the slothfulness of the NPTAB in responding and acting on defaulting contractors, who, consequently, are rehired to work in the regions; contracts not being awarded to the lowest bidders and no annotations being made in the minutes to state why this was so; contracts being awarded although members of the evaluation committee had reportedly not met.
These claims supported the findings reported by the Auditor General (AG), some of which were highlighted by PAC’s Chairman Irfaan Ali yesterday.
Among the inefficiencies brought to the forefront by Ali were that that the minutes taken during finance committee meetings were inadequate and failed to document major changes; that works committees lacked in oversight, and routinely provided information that differed from the reality on the ground (work paid for was different from measured work), which often resulted in overpayments; a pattern of advanced payments that far exceeded what is prescribed in billing documents; failing to properly document changes to scope in work; and money not being returned to the consolidated fund at the end of the year, among others.
Ali stated that a lot of the issues found in the examination of the AG’s report were historical in nature, while adding that it was time the REOs and Regional Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen recognized the seriousness of the Committee, and worked toward achieving public accountability.
The meeting came just a week after two REOs were asked to leave the parliamentary chambers during the analysis of the 2015 Auditor General’s report on their regions, as they were unable to properly give an account of the status of works occurring in their jurisdictions. This encounter triggered discussions that led to the planning of yesterday’s forum.
The engagement also saw the attendance of the members of the Public Procurement Commission as well as the Finance Secretary, Accountant General and Auditor General.
Recognizing the weaknesses in the regional financial management systems, it was noted that there are plans in the pipeline to hold a development training session and to draft terms of reference for the functioning of the finance committees. Finance Secretary Dr Hector Butts also related that there will be a meeting today at the Ministry of Finance to facilitate the development of an Integrated Financial Management System which will cover the agencies under the ministry so that information can be shared, allowing them to be more accountable.
