MPs fault Rubavu over management of public funds

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Wednesday urged Rubavu district officials to commit more efforts in ensuring that they get clean audit reports after MPs described the district’s handling of public finances and property the worst in Western Province.The MPs’ recommendation came after a grilling session in which the Auditor General’s report for the year ended June 30, 2011 depicted the district as the worst in terms of management of public finances in the Province.Inappropriate procurement procedures, errors in books of accounts, failure to implement previous recommendations by the Auditor General, and others, are key problems in the district that officials including district Mayor, Sheikh Hassan Bahame, the Province’s Executive Secretary, Paul Jabo, and others, vowed to rectify.At the end of the session, PAC’s Deputy Chairperson, MP Evode Kalima, said the district should address the management and staffing issues.“What we want, as PAC, is really not to harass you but to correct you. We now want your individual commitments on measures to be taken to change things,” Kalima said.Jabo told MPs that at provincial level, focus is being put towards ensuring that districts have clean audit reports that must be achieved at whatever cost.“You will surely see significant improvements even though I cannot guarantee a clean audit immediately. But I want to assure you that Rubavu is a patient that will get well soon.”The mayor told MPs that the district’s advisory council now has mature members who will help steer the district in the right direction.

National

MPs fault Rubavu over management of public funds