PSs, controlling officers ignore govt directive on monthly financial reports
Government has made a stinging attack on principal secretaries and other controlling officers for grossly slacking in the submission of monthly financial reports.
Secretary to Treasury, Ronald Mangani said only 74 percent have complied with the order this quarter of the year compared to 95 per cent same time last year.
“Out of the 47 government ministries and departments, only 36 per cent have complied whilst 33 per cent complied on bank reconciliation,” he said.
The controlling officers are supposed, among other things, make expenditure returns., payroll returns. These were introduced as a measure to prevent and control another cashgate following the plunder of K30 billion at Capital Hill by civil servants in colloboration with some people outside the goverrnment. The principal secretary said all those who have not submitted the returns will not get monthly government funding.
This is where Malawi has a dilemma. We want to improve accountability and hence financial discipline, but when you look at it closely, we are really not interested in accountability or financial discipline. Let us suppose, that the controlling officers that have not complied are sacked, what will be the first thing out of our mouths. 1. All the ones sacked are opposition – If they are opposition chances are indeed they were sabotaging the process so they had to go. 2. Its only Tumbuka that have been sacked – If they are opposition chances are indeed they were sabotaging… Read more »
Not giving finances to those Ministries and departments that are not complying with government directive is not enough. You should suspend or dismiss the controlling officers including the Principal Secretaries to sent a strong message that government is in serious business. We are fed up of these statements as if there are no other people who can do the same job these failures are doing. Government is an employer and it must show its powers as such, not otherwise. Kamuzu Banda would not have allowed this nonsense to happen – this is happening because the employees responsible know they are… Read more »
Punish the individual miscreants as well. Withheld funding is in fact self defeating from the wider government public service delivery standpoint.
What about the monthly financial repoerts from the state house?