Maravi

Poor accountability on gifts worries Magande

Poor accountability on gifts worries Magande
By Mwala Kalaluka
Friday July 18, 2008 [04:00]

FINANCE minister Ng'andu Magande has expressed concern over the poor accountability on gifts received by the government from donor countries. And commerce minister Felix Mutati said the presidential warrant clause contained in the current constitution, which allows the president to spend money outside the approval of Parliament should be retained in the new constitution.

During the ongoing sittings of the finance and public accounts committee of the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) on Wednesday, Magande said aid in kind was not being properly accounted for within government circles.

"We are concerned that gifts given to the Republic are not properly accounted for," Magande said.

He explained that the country had received gifts such as rice or dates but that at the end of the day, it was not clear how some of these items were distributed to the various beneficiaries.

"We need to harmonise and coordinate all aid, not only money but also any other aid to the Republic," he said.

Magande had proposed earlier that Article 305 of the draft constitution, which was supposed to deal with issues of aid in kind received by the Republic, be classified as Treasury Account and not Consolidated Fund.

Magande said the word treasury was the wholesome description of the work of his ministry, as opposed to the term Consolidated Fund, which he said could be confused by other funds.

After a thorough debate the committee settled for the term National Treasury Account as the appropriate phrase to replace Consolidated Fund.

Financial consultant Lloyd Sichilongo said the Treasury Account was the right place where gifts to the Republic should be declared.
"Right now we do not know how much we have received in gifts," Sichilongo said.

But Deputy Auditor General Regina Chilupula questioned how aid in kind to the Republic could be deposited in treasury accounts when the Ministry of Finance and National Planning dealt specifically with matters of liquidity.

Mutati then proposed that another separate clause be created in the draft constitution to deal with the modalities of accounting for gifts to the government.

"These gifts will be recorded in the memorandum and shall be reflected by the Minister of Finance at the time of presenting the budget," he said.

And Mutati said there was need for the committee to ensure that there was adequate flexibility in the disbursements of funds from the National Treasury Account proposed for inclusion in the new constitution.

He cited the presidential warrant clause in the current Constitution, which he said should be retained in the draft constitution in case of national emergencies.

Sichilongo urged the members to retain the presidential warrant clause in its entirety, because it would be too hybrid to leave it as it was in the draft constitution.

"I do not think the warrant is something inordinately powerful," said Sichilongo.

Labels: MAGANDE, TRANSPARANCY

posted by MrK @ 6:55 AM