Africa-Press – Zambia. Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee Chairperson Warren Mwambazi has asked newly appointed Permanent Secretaries to strictly adhere to guidelines on the administering of public funds.
Permanent Secretaries are currently in Lusaka undergoing orientation on procurement alongside Ministers. Mr. Mwambazi, the Ndola’s Bwana Mkubwa Member of Parliament, said Permanent Secretaries must strive to operate within their mandate. He further welcomed the appointment of new Permanent Secretaries in Ministries and Provinces.
“As Public Accounts Committee we welcome the appointment of new controlling officers. I think it is also very important that they are properly oriented on their duties as controlling officers so that they adhere to the stipulated guidelines in terms of administering of public funds,” Mr. Mwambazi said.
The lawmaker noted that Permanent Secretaries as controlling officers in Ministries and Provinces are key in reducing queries in the Auditor General’s Report.
Unplanned procurement, awarding contracts to bidders who do not have the capacity to deliver, failure to obtain clearance from the Auditor General’s Office, and signing of contracts by unauthorized persons are among regular queries in the Auditor General’s Report.
“In order to also reduce queries in the auditor general report as well as quick implementation of Government programmes and projects because we had seen for a long period all people have been acting except for a few substantive controlling officers.”
Mr. Mwambazi added:”If you look at the controlling officers, those are the CEO’s of the Ministries and I think everything will start moving as a Government because there was a missing link. There were Ministers but there were no controlling officers.”
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