Ex-PAC Chairperson commends the committee members
MBABANE Former PAC Chairperson, Gege MP Musa .unene commend ed the committee members, AGs 2ffice, controlling officers as well as government officials for their patience and accommodation when ever called upon by the committee throughout the term.
“It was not easy but we commend your collaboration throughout the years. You have all shown commit ment towards a common goal, which is accountability for public funds and prioritising service delivery,´ said .unene.
He also warned that the controlling officers should continue to execute their duties with honesty and priori tise the benefit of the general public.
He added that the hearings were meant to assist one another in coming up with lasting solutions on how the Executive and Parliament could work together to improve service delivery and mainly accountability for public funds. Auditor, General Timothy Matsebula, said as an office mandated by Section of the Constitution, they welcomed the support, trust and assistance from all stakeholders despite the limited resources at their disposal.
“I would like to express my grat itude to all stakeholders including controlling officers and their of ficials, parastatals and the private sector who have assisted us and the committee fulfil our mandate despite the limited resources,´ said Matsebula.
He challenged all the controlling officers to ensure that all the pending projects were implemented and clari fied that their duty was to ensure that all public funds were accounted for.
He said there were a lot of lies spread about the public accounts, hence the need to get a true reflection of the situation through an audit.
He said there was a need to strengthen not only his office which was understaffed but also the PAC for the role they had as a committee mandated by the House of Assembly to play an oversight role on public finances. Matsebula highlighted some of the loopholes which were currently a drain to public funds, including parastatals which have on a number of occasions, failed to remit taxes to government such as pay as you earn PAYE yet they continued to demand subvention.
“:e noted that some parastatals played dirty by rushing to govern ment for subvention and weaseled their way to writing off debts while they did not remit taxes. Fortunately this has improved over the years,´ he said.
OBSERVED
He said another anomaly observed was that municipalities and some parastatals did not want to be audited, yet they were entrusted with public funds. Matsebula further advised on the need to update the government accounting systems, which were outdated and urged all controlling officers to lead by example and retire tour advances which was also another drain to government.
“This is advice to all controlling officers to ensure accountability for public funds as well as ensuring hon esty and integrity in managing such funds,´ he said. The AGs submis sions were welcomed with applause from the controlling officers who seemed to be in agreement with his assertions.
Matsebula assured that he, together with the PAC, were not controlling officer’s enemies but professional allies. “:hat connects us is public funds accountability and not ani mosity or vendetta,´ said Matsebula.
The AG specified that their rela tionship was a professional one and not personal. He said all they were there to do was to ensure that the public benefitted from government instead of personal glory and stature.
He said this following his sub missions urging controlling officers to ensure accountability during the interim break before the new Parlia ment was in office. He said all they needed to do was to work together for the common good instead of seeking personal glory.
“:e are not your enemies but your professional friends and allies. :e need to work together, not against one another because the common goal is service delivery and ac countability for public funds,´ said Matsebula.