Maravi

Sickening public service thieves

Sickening public service thieves
By Editor
Monday July 23, 2007 [04:00]

Sometime this year at a rally in Mpulungu, President Levy Mwanawasa proclaimed that stealing makes him sick. To be precise, the following were Levy's words when he learnt that thieving in the public service had reached unimaginable levels: "Stop stealing. Stealing makes me sick...Let's change our attitudes. Efforts should be made to recover this money.

Lesa tafwaya filya iyo kuti akutumina akalumba (God doesn't like such things, he can send a bolt of lightning)." Levy was compelled to say this following what was initially thought to have been theft of K3 trillion from state coffers although the figure was later said to be about K36 billion, itself still a gigantic amount.

Now, Levy's role in the fight against corruption in the last few years cannot be completely ignored. Since he took over power from the undoubtedly corrupt regime of Frederick Chiluba, Levy has demonstrated good measure of commitment in the fight against corruption in Zambia. In fact, without Levy's commitment from the outset, most of the corruption cases in court today, including those involving Chiluba, may not have taken off.

However, it is necessary to separate rhetoric from reality because the two should not be confused to be one and the same thing.

We have been following the Auditor General's reports over the years and recent reports from this office show that theft or lack of accountability for public resources is going on with impunity.

To illustrate the stark reality of lack of accountability for public resources, we can make reference to some existing facts. For instance, the recent Auditor General's report for the financial year ended December 31, 2005, highlighted several irregularities at the Ministry on Health headquarters. The report states thus:

"During the financial year ended 31st December 2005 provisions totalling K437, 970, 162, 429 (support institutions - K44, 425, 205, 622, support to sector wide apparoach - K363, 950, 054, 293, implementation of various poverty reduction programmes - K29, 594, 902, 514) were made in the estimates of revenue and expenditure to cater for the above programmes out of which amounts totalling K83, 069, 679, 363 were released (support to institutions - K47, 482, 151, 993, support to sector wide approach - K6, 049, 849, 262, implementation of various poverty reduction programmes - K29, 537, 678, 108)."

Further, an examination of financial and other records maintained at the ministry revealed the following: Misapplication of grants; although K44, 425, 205, 622 was approved in the estimates of revenue and expenditure, the Ministry of Finance and National Planning released K43, 180, 029, 048, leaving a balance of K1, 245, 176, 575. Out of the released amount of K43, 180, 029, 048, K36, 283, 675, 683 was paid out to grant - aided institutions while the balance of K6, 896, 353, 365 was misapplied at the Ministry headquarters on administration services.

And we all know that Auditor General Anna Chifungula had sometime this year threatened to stop auditing the Ministry of Health due to what she said was un-cooperative behavior from principal officers such as Permanent Secretary Simon Miti.

Quite recently again, the Auditor General disclosed that the Ministry of Finance and National Planning had failed to account for K1.9 trillion in un-reconciled transactions at the Bank of Zambia. According to her, "no one has been able to explain to us where the money went and how it was used at the Ministry of Finance. These unexplained financial transactions of K1.9 trillion between the Ministry of Finance and Bank of Zambia are in the 2005 consolidated financial report which has just been released by the Accountant General."

Now, we cannot just sit idle and fold our arms while these amounts of money go unaccounted for or unexplained. We believe it is in this spirit that World Bank country manager Ohene Nyanin is urging our government to take the Auditor General's reports seriously and discipline officers who abuse public funds.

Truly, Zambians expect that the government will take the Auditor General's reports seriously by acting on the financial irregularities that are being raised in the reports. Not only should the thefts be curbed, but also measures should be put in place to ensure that public resources are protected from thieving public officers.

It is actually a cruel irony that even the ministry which is supposed to ensure strict controls, the Ministry of Finance, also happens to be culpable when it comes to lack of accountability for public resources. As Dr Nyanin advises, the Auditor General's reports should help the government to manage public resources properly by making sure that controlling officers who abuse public funds are held accountable.

Although we are aware of Levy's recent suspension of his motto for zero tolerance to corruption because of his frustrations with the lack of progress in reducing corruption in the public service, we think that the level at which corruption is eating our nation, especially the public service, has reached an intolerable magnitude and the vice needs to be fought ruthlessly.

And Levy will only prove that stealing makes him sick if he demonstrates, through practical measures, his commitment to helping fight the corruption that is so conspicuous in the public sector. Of course such a huge task cannot be left to Levy alone. In fact, it is impossible for a single individual, even for someone like Levy with instruments of state power at their disposal, to single-handedly deal with this scourge.

This is why we have well-established state apparatuses such as the Anti Corruption Commission and the Drug Enforcement Commission which need to do more in order to deal with thefts and corruption in the public service. Nevertheless, leadership in this fight is necessary because the kind of vice we are talking about is a complicated one and those engaged in it have developed immense abilities to cover their tracks against possible prosecution.

It is time Levy and his government moved in to stop thefts of public resources by public servants, or else the people of Zambia will be justified to doubt Levy’s claim that stealing makes him sick. Otherwise, the thieves in the public service are really sickening and they need to be dealt with appropriately.

Labels: AUDITOR GENERAL, CORRUPTION, EDITORIAL, OHENE NYANIN

posted by MrK @ 6:21 AM