48 institutions summoned for PAC hearings

The parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will on Tuesday next week begin hearings in which 48 institutions are expected to shed light on the issues raised by the Auditor General in his 2019/2020 report. In a telephone interview with The New Times, the PAC Chairperson; MP Valens Muhakwa said that the hearings will commence on July 21 and conclude on August 5. “We are receiving 48 institutions including districts and the timeframe of the hearing means that we will be receiving about six or seven institutions a day,” he said. Muhakwa said that the hearings will be held face to face but will only allow limited attendance in line with the Covid-19 social distancing guidelines. Taking on new role This will be MP Muhakwa’s first big test since he was unanimously voted by 78 members of the lower chamber to lead the committee in June this year. He came in to replace Jean-Chrysostome Ngabitsinze who was appointed Minister of State in charge of Agriculture and Animal Resources in March this year. Like his predecessor, Muhakwa belongs to the Social Democratic Party (PSD). Muhakwa, 37, who holds a Master’s degree in Public International Law, told The New Times that his education background makes him keen on upholding compliance. “I am also keen on value for money. Our country’s resources are limited and our budget is funded by citizen taxes and from borrowing, so it’s imperative that the money is used right,” he said. He added that there are loopholes in the country’s laws that can be used as an excuse for anyone who wants to embezzle government funds. “The institutions that are given these funds must put them to use them in line with the law. We have clear laws and there are no loopholes that you can use as an excuse. I am a lawyer so when it comes to compliance, I am very strict,” he said. Prosecution is key In an interview recently, the Auditor General Obadiah Biraro said that prosecuting those responsible for causing government losses would go a long way in fixing the issues. “You have to have enforcement. If you have not implemented the Auditor General’s recommendations, what happens to you? There are rules and if you go against them, you should face the consequences. There is no way out of this other than prosecution. There is no shortcut,” he said. Biraro said that leadership should come with accountability and those trusted with the task to disburse public funds should be stripped of these responsibilities and tasked to refund the monies they lost. In 2019, the government lost a staggering Rwf5.6 billion due to delayed and abandoned contracts, idle assets and payment of non-existent employees.

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48 institutions summoned for PAC hearings