Monday 23 May 2016

Public Accounts Committee Recommendations: Parl of Zimabbwe


 7.2.1Treasury should by end of June, 2016, come up with regulations providing specifically for various acts of financial misconduct.

7.2.2 The Executive must urgently, where applicable, constitute Boards and appoint senior Management with the requisite skills to run the affairs of state enterprises and parastatals as provided by the Corporate Governance Framework.
7.2.3 All Board Members must declare assets before assuming office and disclosure of interest must be made whenever necessary.
7.2.4 All Accounting officers must appoint Audit Committees by the end of June, 2016 in order to comply with section 84 of the Public Finance Management Act. Failure to implement this recommendation is a violation of the provisions of the Act which is punishable in terms of section 91 of the same Act.
7.2.5 All entities must put in place key policy documents such as IT, Investment and Risk Management policies by the end of the June 2016. Failure to implement this recommendation by due date would be in violation of section 44 of the Public Finance Management Act which compels accounting authorities to establish and maintain effective, efficient and transparent systems of financial and risk management and internal controls. Such violation is defined as financial misconduct which calls for the appointing authority to institute disciplinary proceedings.
7.2.6 Failure to properly manage cash and receivables is a clear dereliction of duty on the part of the accounting officer and as such accounting officers failing in this regard should be dismissed in terms of section 86 of the Public Finance Management Act.
7.2.7 All related party transactions should be reported at the time the transactions are concluded and failure to do so constitutes an offence which should be dealt with in terms of section 91 of the Public Finance Management Act.
7.2.8 All allowances paid to executives and senior management should be reflected on the payroll and failure to do so shall be deemed an act of fraud punishable at law.
7.2.9 The Procurement function in other jurisdictions is decentralized to procuring entities while Procurement Authorities play a regulatory function. Government should speed up efforts under way to reform the public procurement law and ensure that the new regulatory framework is in place by June 2016.

7.2.10   Entities should remit statutory and contractual payments to NSSA, ZIMRA and Medical Aid contributions to avoid incurring penalties. In cases where such deductions are made and remittances are not made, the accounting authorities should be held responsible for any related costs incurred by the respective entity.
7.2.11 All Ministries and Parastatals should implement Results Based Management (RBM) as a performance measurement tool. Rewards should be linked to good performance.
7.2.12 All loans should have loan agreements in place and failure to have an agreement in place should be treated as an act of non-performance which requires the appointing authority to take the necessary action.
7.2.13 All entities should have in place strategic plans which are linked to the Results Based Management. Failure to do so is in violation of section 46 of the Public Finance Management Act which should be dealt with as provided in section 91 of the same Act.  
7.2.14 There should be proper segregation of duties, as lack of it may create opportunities for concealment of errors and material irregularities. Where there are challenges, there should be constant supervision.
7.2.15  All reconciliations must be carried out on a monthly basis/timeously. Failure to carry out reconciliations should be treated as non- performance on the part of the accounting officers which should call for necessary disciplinary action.
7.2.16 Ministries should maintain separate accounts for Appropriation and Fund resources. Failure of which constitute financial misconduct which should be dealt with in terms of Section 91 of the Public Finance Management Act.
7.2.17 Financial statements and supporting returns should be submitted on time and failure to submit should be a punishable act in terms of section 91 of the Public Finance Management Act.
7.2.18 All fraudulent activities should be investigated fully and timeously to establish responsibility and ensure appropriate legal and administrative action is taken.
7.2.19 All instances involving the abuse or loss of state properties should be properly investigated and appropriate action taken in terms of section 12 of the Public Finance Management Act.

No comments:

Post a Comment