Regional PACs call for financial controls

Weak internal controls and financial management systems have been cited as some of the challenges facing regional parliamentary Public Accounts Committees (PACs).This was noted as Members of Parliament of the Eastern Africa Association of Public Accounts Committees (EAAPAC), and the Southern Africa Development Community Organization of Public Accounts Committee (SADCOPAC) commenced a two-day session in Kigali yesterday.The meeting will assess previous activities and plan for 2012-2014. They will also discuss matters pertaining to strengthening the SADCOPAC Secretariat and decide on division of labour.Uganda PAC Chairperson, Kassiano Wadri, who also doubles as EAAPAC chair, noted that in executing their functions that lay ahead, there were a number of challenges that they should take into consideration.“It is one thing for us to be in this regional bloc as EAAPAC, but it is another for us as individual parliaments, to establish and harmonise our working methods so that at the end of the day, we are seen as one,” Wadri said, explaining the need for harmonized operations.“What is done in Kigali should be the same as what is happening in Juba, should be the same as in South Africa, and should be the same as what is happening in Harare when it comes to matters of good practices”.According to Wadri, PAC members are political representatives who are not necessarily trained in financial management, and do not have financial and legal expertise, which are all skills critical to arriving at proper resolutions. “Various countries have got various requirements for a person to become a Member of Parliament. You don’t necessarily have to be an auditor to be a member of the Public Accounts Committee. As a Member of Parliament, you are required to be ready to serve in any of the standing committees. Therefore, there is a need for capacity building,” he said.“Many a time people look at us as institutions which are just there to witch hunt... institutions which are there to always find people on the wrong footing. You must have read, in the papers what we went through, in our country, a few days back, where my committee had to recommend relieving of senior cabinet ministers of their responsibilities because of their involvement in financial impropriety. Many people came to say, ‘Wadri, how will you walk home? Do you have security?”“These are the occupational hazards that we, as members of the Public Accounts Committee, have to contend with”.Recently, in Rwanda, after tabling its report on the loss of Rwf 9.7 billion as highlighted in the 2009/10 Auditor General’s report, PAC recommended tough measures be taken to cut back the waste of taxpayers’ money. Meanwhile, in a message read by Rwanda’s PAC Chairperson, Juvenal Nkusi, the Speaker of the; lower chamber of Parliament, Rose Mukantabana, told the meeting that African countries are endowed with abundant resources whose rational use should have the potential to help lessen poverty. She stressed that bad governance had been a major hindrance to development, “which is why the Parliaments of our countries have set up PACs.”Amos Fish Mahlalela, Chair of APAC as well as Chairman of SADCOPAC, stressed the importance of networking.

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Regional PACs call for financial controls