DESPITE its good intentions the Public Finance Act 2013 still falls short of illegalizing abuse of public funds through the use of contingency warrants.
Opposition Leader Jeremiah Manele said this during Parliament debate on the Supplementary Appropriation bill 2015 that Parliament passes it last week.
The Opposition leader said government’s abuse of public funds by spending money outside of the legal process as stipulated under the Public Finance Act 2013 is a clear indication that it is sending out a wrong message to the people and donor friends.
Mr Manele stressed that continued misuse of funds under contingency warrants as highlighted in Public Accounts Committee report amounts to chronic problem of poor planning in our government system.
“This calls for more yet that remains to be done to address and improve this situation in this regard pointing out that the recommendations contained in the PAC report on this matter provide a way forward.
He urged the government of the need for a proper review be conducted on section 58 of the Public Finance and Management Act 2013.
He said a review is pertinent to ensure that the wordings of section 58 in not only clearer but must also capture the contextual matters that often give rise to the use of this section.
The Opposition leader said furthermore it is obvious that the Supplementary Appropriation bill 2015that the Government Ministries were asking for additional funds to carry them through to the end of the fiscal year.
Mr Manele said the reason Ministry were doing this was that their original estimate budgetary submissions under the 2015 Budget were cut by the budget unit of the Ministry of Finance.
“The issue of ministries budget being cut or reduced by the budget unit arbitrarily has been an ongoing one and in my view needs to be properly addressed,” he said.
He suggests a need for effective coordination between the budget unit and the line ministries.
After passing the Supplementary Appropriation Bill 2015, parliament had adjourned to 3rd December 2015.
By ELLIOT DAWEA