Chinamasa under fire

Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa came under fire on Thursday when Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee said the ministry, which is the custodian of public funds, had not lived up to expectations in the three years to 2014.

The committee was, however, relieved that things seemed to have improved following the appointment of a new accountant general.

Presenting her report yesterday chair Paurina Mpariwa said: “In view of the central role played by Treasury in ensuring full accountability, regularity and propriety in the handling and expenditure of public resources as provided in the Public Finance Management Act, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development should lead by example by ensuring that it observes timelines in producing accounts for audit, it produces clean audits and in the event of any observations raised during audits, it responds and acts promptly on audit findings.

“It is with regret that the Public Accounts Committee noted that as custodians of public funds, the Ministry has not been able to live up to these expectations during the last three years as demonstrated by late submission of consolidated accounts and other statements for audit and failure to respond to and act on audit findings. Some of the issues raised in this Report had been outstanding since 2013.”

She said the appointment of a new Accountant General was, however, promising a new dispensation within the ministry.

Chinamasa is currently in Europe where he is seeking funds to revive the country’s economy but according to Mpariwa the ministry needed to look into several issues including misappropriation of funds by senior officials, poor investment decisions, the continued funding of enterprises that did not give any value to the government, and dishing out of loans that were not properly secured.

Below is Mpariwa’s full report:

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