Maravi

Stop the rot

Stop the rot
By The Post
Wed 19 May 2010, 04:00 CAT

THE work of the Auditor General risks becoming useless, a waste of public funds, if nothing is done to ensure that those found wanting are brought to book.

We say this because the Auditor General has been producing and making public reports of her audits every year. And in her reports, glaring irregularities are highlighted in the various government ministries, provincial administrations and foreign missions, among other public institutions.

The latest Auditor General’s report on the Road Development Agency (RDA) for 2006-2009 is not an exception. According to this report, the RDA overcommitted the government by over K1 trillion through overprocurement of contracts in the 2008 annual work plan.

We are told that the agency did not retire imprest totalling K19.1 billion since 2004. There are issues of unauthorised contract variations and overruns in some road projects in Lusaka and Copperbelt provinces amounting to K93 billion, among others. We are aware that the donors to the road sector have even withheld funding pending the release of this report.

This is a sad state of affairs, which requires serious attention and deep meditation by those in government. There is need to correct the situation because it is indisputable that roads are arteries of modern economic activity. A lot of our country’s major roads are in bad state and need to be worked on. These roads might get worse if they are not rehabilitated before the onset of the rainy season.

The maize marketing season has been launched and farmers will have to move their crop for sale. The government will also have to move fertiliser in the next few months to the various parts of the country on these same bad roads, which need urgent attention.

The mines also rely on these same roads. Given the serious need for good infrastructure, roads in particular, it is saddening that the country could find itself in a situation where donors have to withhold funds on suspicion of misuse.

Not so long ago, the donors to the Ministry of Health suspended funding following revelations of theft of K10 billion. Some donors may have resumed funding to the ministry but it remains to be seen whether or not serious measures have been put in place to prevent a recurrence of that blatant abuse of funds meant to benefit the majority of our poor in such a key sector.

And the suspension of funding to the road sector is yet another shameful episode and Rupiah Banda and his friends have to seriously work towards getting the country out of this mess.

We have always said there is no seriousness and political will in the fight against corruption. If there was, if Rupiah and his friends were trying to be seen to be doing something, we would not be having donors suspending funds to such critical sectors.

Some of these misappropriations and dubious deals have been sealed right under Rupiah’s nose, sometimes involving his kith and kin. It is amazing that Rupiah and his friends have so much time and energy to feather their nests and secure their hold on power when there is so much work that needs to be done in this country.

Our people continue to wallow in abject poverty. The education system is not as it should be. The health sector has its own challenges and the road sector needs attention.

Given the magnitude of the problems in our country, it is shameful that those in government can make it their preoccupation to enrich themselves at the expense of the poor.

Rupiah and his friends should be ashamed that donors have had to suspend funds to key sectors within a short space of time. They should sit down and reflect on the direction in which they are taking this country. Arrogance will not take them anywhere; it will not solve the immense problems that they need to attend to.

The money that donors give to Zambia is taxpayers’ money from other countries and it needs to be spent prudently, for the intended purpose. Equally, public funds are taxpayers’ money and no one, no matter how privileged the position they hold, should be allowed to dip their long fingers in it. We have no choice as a country but to fight corruption because it is a terrible cancer, which has seriously permeated our society.

This corruption is always highlighted in the Auditor General’s annual reports and we need to take these reports seriously. Whatever gains we had made as a country in the fight against corruption are slowly being eroded and all we hear is empty talk, with very little – if not nothing at all - to show for it.

How else do we expect to fight corruption if we cannot follow up on what the Auditor General’s work has revealed and stop the rot? We have always emphasised the need for the government to account to the taxpayers over its management of public funds. Public funds should at all times be properly raised, protected from loss and spent with maximum efficiency, effectiveness and orderliness.

Political leaders need to understand that the role and value of audits in the public sector go beyond merely expressing an opinion on financial statements. We strongly believe that when Auditor General Anna Chifungula and her team compile their reports, they comment and give feedback on the effectiveness of the management processes and compliance with laws and regulations.

This qualitative approach, we believe, is meant to enable controlling officers and others in the public sector to understand the financial impact of the identified irregularities and help to come up with corrective actions. That way the Auditor General will be adding value and helping to improve financial management and service delivery in the public sector.

With the release of this report on RDA, the parliamentary public accounts committee will have to sit and raise queries over the irregularities. But what purpose will that serve if no action is taken against the culprits in the current report and many other reports that have been presented to the nation?

How else do we expect to get aid to fight poverty when we cannot control corruption in our midst, corruption among the implementers of the country’s development policies?

How do the leaders expect our people to trust them when they are stealing their money in broad daylight and without any restraint? How do they expect our people to believe that they are serious with the fight against corruption when they are not taking any measures to stop the corrupt practices in government ministries and agencies under their control?

These are some of the questions that need serious reflection by the leadership of this country. We will not develop as a country and lift many people from the current quagmire of poverty if we do not check the way we are spending public funds which are meant to improve their lives.

The political leadership of this country needs to understand that no one will develop Zambia for us. We have a duty and responsibility to develop this country and only we can do so. We will get all the aid we need but as long as we do not have integrity, a sense of honesty and justice, we will not achieve much; we will be going backwards in very long strides.

Labels: ANNA CHIFUNGULA, AUDITOR GENERAL, RDA

posted by MrK @ 5:08 AM