Maridadi says prosecutor-general and police must sit on the Public Accounts Committee to deal with those who misuse government funds

Mabvuku-Tafara legislator James Maridadi says the prosecutor-general  and police officers from the fraud squad must sit on Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee so that they can arrest and prosecute those who misuse public funds instead of waiting for the committee to report to the police.

He made the recommendation after noting that accounting officers for several ministries were getting away with misuse of public funds because there was no one to investigate and arrest them yet the auditor-general reported year –after-year misuse of funds by these officers.

“In other jurisdictions like in Kenya and in Uganda, people from the Prosecutor General’s office sit in the Public Accounts Committee and officers from fraud squad also sit in the Public Accounts Committee.  When issues of potential fraud are raised, there is no need to go to the police and make a report because the police will then start investigating straight away,” he said.

“What happens in our case is that when you have a report like the one that I have presented here, somebody must then go to the ZRP and make a report and then action will follow, but in other jurisdictions, you do not have to make a report. 

“Straight away, there are police officers that sit on that Committee and as soon as the Public Committees are done analysing the report of the Auditor General, action is taken.  The Ministry of Home Affairs comes in and the Zimbabwe Anti Corruption Commission comes in.”

Maridadi said he was appalled by the level of misuse of public funds with the government as no single ministry had received a clean slate from the auditor-general.

“Mr. Speaker, I went through this audit report painstakingly and I came up with this document here, which I can make available to Members of Parliament.  I want to go through it ministry by ministry,” he said. 

“Mr. Speaker, there is not a ministry where there is an accounting officer who has not been caught by the Auditor General off side. 

“Ministry of Industry and Commerce issued loans without signing loan agreements.  ZISCO Steel – US$11 633 012 respectively. 

“Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development’s loan agreement to Farmers World, debt for 2014, US$11566000 and in 2013, US$11 833 000.

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