Secretary to the treasury Dr Fredson
yamba has directed all controlling officers in the country to acquire the
public finance, Zambia public procurement acts, financial regulations and other
government documents to be used as a guiding principle in their work.
Dr Yamba directed the permanent
secretaries when he officially opened a one day controlling officers’
orientation workshop in Lusaka today.
Dr yamba also urged the officers to
come up with additional measures that will contribute to resolve some of the
challenges faced in management of resources in the public sector and concerns
of oversight institutions such as the auditor general, the public accounts
committee and the committee on estimates.
He has pointed out that past
performance in management of public resources has been characterized by glaring
irregularities and these involved misapplication and misappropriation of funds
at various levels of government, procurement irregularities, failure to address
audit queries and theft of public resources.
The secretary to the treasury notes
that poor budget execution has become a norm as seen through the accumulation
of unutilized balances in accounts, accumulation of domestic arrears on goods
and services, delays in procurement and generally a slow pace of implementation
of projects.
Dr Yamba says such vices have
unfortunately become a permanent feature in the auditor-generals and controller
of internal audit reports.
He has stated that regrettably this
is happening at a time when the country is facing high levels of poverty and
poor access to decent public services such as infrastructure, clean water and
sanitation services for Zambian citizens.
Dr yamba has stressed on the need
for the permanent secretaries to change the what he called as a sad reputation
and restore confidence of the Zambians in the management of public funds by
strictly adhering to government processes as laid down in various statutes with
regard to management of resources.
The objective of the orientation
workshop for the controlling officers is to orient them on the importance of
strict adherence to laid down statutes and financial regulations.
The orientation workshop is also
meant to adopt measures to strengthen treasury and financial management in the
public sector including measures to enhance project implementation.
It will
also seek to adopt measures to increase government transparency and
accountability in handling of public resources and adopt measures that will minimize
fraud, outright theft and corrupt practices in government
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