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Mulyata owes govt K51m in unretired imprest – PAC

Mulyata owes govt K51m in unretired imprest – PAC
Written by Katwishi Bwalya
Friday, May 15, 2009 2:27:48 PM

THE Public Accounts Committee (PAC) yesterday heard that North Western Province minister Joseph Mulyata owes government K51 million in unretired imprest. Auditor General Anna Chifungula, who is a permanent witness of PAC, informed the committee that Mulyata owed government K51 million in unretired imprest, which he obtained when he served as Southern Province minister in 2007.

Chifungula said an extra K21 million was irregularly paid to Mulyata and the payment voucher for the money had gone missing.

Chifungula also revealed that local government deputy minister Chrispin Musosha had not retired K38,211,010 imprest, which he got when he served as provincial minister for Luapula in 2007.

Clement Siame, the former Luapula Province permanent secretary, had also not retired imprest amounting to K9,605,000 as well as Mr Kalumba, another former permanent secretary for the same province, who got imprest amounting to K35,248,000 million which had not been retired to date.

The revelations were made when Luapula Province permanent secretary Jazzman Chikwakwa and his Southern Province counterpart Darius Hakayobe appeared before the committee separately.

Both Hakayobe and Chikwakwa were taken to task for not ensuring that the government officials retired the imprest.

Committee chairperson Charles Milupi wondered why Hakoyobe was not aware of the K21 million that was paid to Mulyata and why he was paid.

In response, Hakayobe told the committee that on many occasions he had written to Mulyata asking him to retire the imprest and Mulyata had been promising to do so.

"We have advised him [Mulyata] and I have talked to him personally and he said he was going to retire but he hasn't," Hakayobe told the committee.

The committee took Hakayobe to task on why he did not follow the financial regulation number 96(6) which allows a constitutional office bearer to retire imprest within 48 hours upon return from duty.

The regulation further states that failure to retire the imprest within 48 hours, the controlling officer should report the culprit to the Secretary to the Treasury for disciplinary action.

Hakoyobe could also not explain why there was an over-payment of K13 million to a contractor working on his official residence.

He caused laughter among the members of the committee when he confused himself in response to the queries raised.

"Every time you come here either because you are not in charge that is why you find there is so much laugher. That laugher, take it as judgement on your performance," Milupi said. "Things are being written that are ridiculous and that is why people are laughing and ultimately it is the waste of the committee's time because next year you come with exactly the same things because you don't have a firm hand on what is happening below you. More so it is a minister asking you to the wrong thing, you are very free do it."

The committee wondered why Hakoyobe's administration had not improved its financial performance.

Milupi observed that it was unfortunate that Hakayobe did not work according to the rules in his the discharge of duties as controlling officer.

"Mr Hakoyobe, we have been going through these financial regulations and you have been leaving assuring us you are going to do things correctly, even this year you have not done," Milupi said.

And the committee wondered why the Luapula Province administration failed to account for K1,019,596,615 billion in unretired interest.

"Mr Chikwakwa, we are getting worried with the performance of the accountants who are sent in provinces to support you the administrators. We think that these are the ones who should direct you on how the regulations and the procedures are but we are not seeing that," Milupi said.

Chikwakwa in response said the financial irregularities were among the things he wanted to correct in the province but civil servants were fighting him as portrayed in the media.

"I want to thank the members for identifying these lapses because I am sure the beginning of this year when I moved to Luapula my name has been in the national press with a misunderstanding with Luapula civil servants and Jazzman Chikwakwa as permanent secretary," said Chikwakwa.

"These are some of the issues I came to discover when I moved to the new office and in the way of trying to bring the people concerned to correction, then there was this type of repercussions, newspapers writing about Jazzman Chikwakwa and so on."

Labels: JOSEPH MULYATA, PAC

posted by MrK @ 1:30 PM