eBusiness Weekly
Enacy Mapakame
Zimbabwe needs to enhance its public finance management and transparency in administering Covid-19 funds and facilities as the country pushes for recovery.
This comes as funds have been coming in to assist in the fight against the pandemic through donations for healthcare services.
Indications are that Government is also working on facilities to assist the less privileged as well as for bailing out the informal small to medium enterprises (SMEs) who have been affected by the pandemic to get back on their feet.
SMEs and the informal sector play a critical role in the Zimbabwe economy employing over half of the employable population.
Legislators, civil society groups, economists, academics and other stakeholders who took part in a Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD) virtual Public Finance Management Reform Indaba, called on enhanced accountability and transparency in public finance expenditure during the Covid-19 crisis.
This, they said, should entail efficient and accountable procurement.
“Such procedures should ensure adequate accountability, transparency and overall value for money considering quality, cost and time of delivery,” said Parliament Budget Office (PBO) director Pepukai Chivore at the indaba.
“We need to maintain audit trail to mitigate risk of fraud.
“Track and report emergency response expenditure to facilitate informed decision making.
“Where separate budget lines are created for Covid-19 response, they need to follow the standard financial reporting system.
“It is also important to post all procurement of information related to Covid-19 on Government portals, this will enhance transparency, accountability and trust,” he said.
Participants also raised concerns over the current limited Parliamentary oversight role through the Constitutional Amendment No 2 Bill.
According to the World Bank, parliamentarians are supposed to be at the forefront of the response to this unprecedented health crisis, passing measures and emergency bills to address it.
“This guarantees transparency and accountability which is crucial in building public trust in government’s response to the pandemic. Without such, citizens tend to speculate, especially when all important decisions are left in the hands of the Executive,” said ZIMCODD.
In Zimbabwe, Parliament immediately adjourned after the President’s declaration of Covid-19 a State of National Disaster on March 17, 2020.
The legislators who participated at the indaba thus confessed that they were learning of what is happening in the country “through social media and grapevine” with several decisions made without the involvement of Parliament as well as Portfolio Committees on Health and Child Care, Budget and Finance and the Public Accounts
