Govt ministries urged to embrace value for money initiative
AS the budget season approaches, Finance and Investment Promotion Deputy Minister, Honourable David Mnangagwa has urged Government ministries to embrace the value for money initiative.
Speaking in an interview on the sidelines of his ministry’s five-day strategic review and planning workshop at a Mutare hotel that ends today (Friday), Deputy Minister Mnangagwa said the initiative will help ministries to allocate their resources efficiently and effectively and to achieve their strategic goals and objectives.
“The value for money initiative will enhance transparency and accountability in the public sector and foster good governance and service delivery. We are going into the budget season and one thing that we need to remain cognizant of is the value for money.
“His Excellency, President Mnangagwa launched the Electronic Government Procurement System earlier this week and it will ensure transparency and accountability in all our procurement,” he said.
Deputy Minister Mnangagwa added: “When the Ministry of Finance and Investment Promotion embarked on the value for money initiative, we saved over 30 percent in procurement, which is quite a huge saving. This is something that we would like all other ministries to do as they go through their budget processes this season,” he said.
The workshop is being attended by heads of the Finance and Investment Promotion Ministry’s parastatals, officials from the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) and stakeholders from the Public Service Commission (PSC).
Deputy Minister Mnangagwa said stakeholders were taking stock of the previous year, strategising and coming up with the Finance Ministry’s annual plan which will feed into next year’s budget.
“What we intend to do is to take stock of the previous year as we come up with our annual plan which will feed into next year’s budget. This is tied with the macro-planning session that we had a few weeks ago which then dovetails into how we, as a ministry, will feed into that,” he said.
He also said the Finance and Investment Promotion Ministry is the champion of the National Development Strategy (NDS1) which pushes for the attainment of Vision 2030.
“We also want to become an example to other ministries to make sure that as we move towards the lapsing of NDS1 which is ending in 2025 and move towards NDS2 which will end in 2030, we are always reliant on that strategy. This is stock taking as we plan to move forward.
“As evidenced in the mid-term review policy document for NDS1 that was released recently, as a country and as a ministry, we are on course as far as NDS1 is concerned. To ensure its success, we have to stay on course and make sure that all the tight policy measures that were put in place continue up to 2025 when we close the first phase of NDS,” he said.
Deputy Minister Mnangagwa also highlighted that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the strategic vision and goals of the Finance Ministry and to get feedback and suggestions from the participants.
Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Advocate Misheck Mugadza applauded the Finance and Investment Promotion Ministry for availing various opportunities to local businesses by holding the meeting in Mutare.