It’s that time of year when many central and local government officials face a torrid time explaining matters of accountability to the Public Accounts Committee of the Chamber of Deputies. The 15-day public hearings started Monday, September 5, with senior officials from the Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB) the first to face the committee in an exercise usually followed closely by members of the public. Representatives of 85 public institutions and 31 projects are due to appear before the committee over “irregularities in the management of public finances and resources (cited) in the report of the Office of the Auditor General for the fiscal year 2020/2021.” Overall, there has been improvement in management of public finances over the years, with Auditor General (AG) Alex Kamuhire reporting in May that irregular spending had reduced by 43 per cent, from Rwf5.7 billion in 2020 to Rwf3.2 billion in 2021. A series of institutional and legal reforms, including at entities like RSSB, in recent years have been credited with improved public financial management, which has helped reduce wasteful and unaccounted expenditures. However, a lot more needs to be done to ensure value for money and full accountability for taxpayers’ money. For instance, it’s unacceptable that only 48 per cent of the AG’s recommendations were fully implemented in 2021, representing a marginal increase from 47 per cent in 2020. And, it stood at 48 per cent in 2019, signaling a lack of progress. The situation was worse for Boards and Government Business Enterprises, which implemented only 398 of 882 AG recommendations last fiscal year, representing 45 per cent. The compliance level among public hospitals was even much worse, at just 40 per cent. As a result, billions of public funds continue to go down the drain, including through idle or abandoned public projects, a trend linked to suspected corruption cases. To reverse the situation, there is a need for parliament, judiciary and other relevant authorities to be firmer on execution of AG’s recommendations and ensuring that those responsible for wastage or embezzlement of public resources are held to account. Importantly, more needs to be done to ensure that misappropriated public funds are recovered. Indeed, PAC’s public hearings are essential and useful but not an end in themselves.
