Punish lax KKIA officers – Parley
THE
Public Accounts Committee has recommended that punishment be meted on officers in the Ministry of Home Affairs working at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport for delayed banking of money.
Public Accounts Committee chairperson Howard Kunda told Parliament yesterday it was unacceptable to fail to bank money in Lusaka for a period of four to 425 days.
Mr Kunda said this when presenting the report of the Auditor General on the accounts of the republic for the financial year ended December 31, 2017.
"There is need to mete out punishment on the officers delaying banking government revenue. Lusaka has easy access to banks,” Mr Kunda said.
He said there was no justification for delays in depositing the money.
The committee recommended that punishment be meted out.
And Mr Kunda said infrastructure in Zambia’s foreign missions was in a poor state.
He said there was a need to address the problem through the mortgage finance arrangement to uplift the state of the infrastructure.
Mr Kunda, however, said the benefits of the loan facility could not accrue because of the lengthy procurement procedures.
He said there was a need for controlling officers in various ministries to embark on a robust programme to sensitise officers on the Public Finance Management Act.
Seconding the motion, Kasempa Member of Parliament Brenda Tambatamba said there was a lot of bad management of finances in government institutions which was resulting in the loss of revenue.
Luapula Province Minister Nixon Chilangwa said the report of the Public Accounts Committee concerned everyone.
Mr Chilangwa said there was a need to tackle the problem as a nation.
He, however, said the problem of financial irregularities lay at the technical level in the civil service.
Meanwhile, Minister of Finance Bwalya Nga'ndu said the ministry will take note and implement the recommendations of the report.
The House adopted the report.