Northern Province affected by high staff turnover

The Governor of the Northern Province, Aimé Bosenibamwe, yesterday told the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that his province has been highly affected by departure of employees. The governor made the remarks while responding to PAC’s concerns of continued misuse and mismanagement of public funds in his province as presented in the 2009/10 Auditor General’s report. Bosenibamwe, who was accompanied by top officials of the province attributed the mismatching figures in the provincial books of accounts to continued resignation of staff. “Most of the errors happen during the transition period after employees leave. There is need to come up with methods of retaining government employees.” “If we are given authority to recruit our employees without the consultation of the Public Service Commission, then we could bridge the gap,” the Governor added. He requested parliament to come up with a proposal of improved incentives that would make professionals such as accountants to want to work in public offices. Despite the governor’s explanations, MP Thierry Karemera asked why the province had not adhered to the Auditor General’s recommendation as mentioned in the report. “It seems the province does not respect the advice of the AG. Only 42 percent of what the AG advised you in the previous reports were implemented. Is there anything more you have to tell us?” Karemera questioned. The provincial Executive Secretary Deo Kabagamba said that most of the woes rotate around a former provincial accountant who embezzled funds and disappeared. “We had no choice but hand over the accounting responsibilities to the budget officer who later resigned because he got a better paying job. “We were left with no one to manage our accounts, everything was out of order, we were struggling to manage the accounts as we waited for the recruitment of a new accountant,” Kabagamba noted. MP Saidat Mukanoheli who chaired yesterday’s PAC hearing asked Kabagamba to depict the future of the province.. “Current employees are working as a team to rectify previous errors but we need more staff and a mechanism of retention,” Kabagamba responded. Part of those who appeared before PAC included officials from Gicumbi District and according to PAC, the district was ranked among the worse performers in financial management. Some of the financial setbacks in the AG’s report include Rwf14m that Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) fined Gicumbi District for a delay in clearing its taxes. edwin.musoni@newtimes.co.rw

National

Northern Province affected by high staff turnover