The widening gap between public finance management and service delivery is symptomatic of lack of transparency and accountability by local authorities, it has emerged.
Contributing to the public finance management debate on the Identities Conversations, an Identities Media Holdings platform for public debate and conversations, Masimba Munyanya said: “Public finance management is characterised by growing fiscal leakages, lack of transparency and accountability and concerns are that the result is fiscal deficit, hence there is need for accountability and transparency by the local authorities.”
Munyanya, from Simukai Residence Trust lamented the misuse of public funds and its effect on service delivery and the negative impact on the livelihoods of ordinary citizens.
Tendai Bobo, an Advocacy Campaign Officer at ZIMCODD who was also part of the debate, noted that it was imperative for the government to prioritise channelling resources towards the citizens welfare and emphasized that everyone should participate in budget consultative policies and on the other end the authorities should be accountable for funds used.
She made it clear that public finance management involves the control and management of public resources while public service is a service provided by the government to people living within its jurisdiction. All stakeholders must be involved and citizen participation should be paramount, according to Ms Bobo.
“Rate payers should take part in consultative meetings so that their input will be captured and as citizens we have the moral responsibility to take up any issues that include development. The fact that we pay taxes by default means we have a social contract with the government so at the end of the day we have got the responsibility to know what every dollar has been used for towards the citizens’ upkeep.”
“There is no more important public agency activity than budgeting, the process whereby decision makers allocate scarce resources to fund vital public services and facilities. It provides important information about the kind of community people want to live in and which services they value.” Said Bobo.
Bobo bemoaned the behaviour of political parties especially in rural areas where people are gagged through threats from raising issues such as corruption that adversely affect their rights.
“Due to political activists, people cannot claim their rights because of fear; they cannot even talk even if it is crystal clear that this is corruption, but I have this to say, do not be afraid as a citizen you have to know the constitution and claim your rights”, she said.
Masimba also added, “It seems like we are still living in the colonial era yet we need to be educated so as to change our mindset on certain issues especially regarding development as well as public finance management. If we can take a closer look at it, Councils are too corrupt; for instance where I am coming from — Goromonzi, they want to occupy a certain land which has been already occupied by the residents.”
Nyaradzo Mashayamombe, the host of the show, however challenged the duo to unpack public accountability andits nexus to public services.
Bobo responded by explaining that public finance management system has to ensure that all the money used has been accounted for and has been channelled towards social services.
“We want transactions to be done in a manner that is clear to everyone, we want them to tell us that this money has been used for this and that and that way we are good to go. We also have the constitution and laws and we have a template. Revenue generated and expenditure incurred must be available for public view, review and consumption,” said Bobo who is also an economist.
Manyanya took the baton and expounded further: “There are standards on how these public funds should be used across the board. We tend to spend so much eating and not saving money for capital development. The government should invest in children’s education because you might find that with this economy there are many school dropouts hence leading to drug abuse and other social vices.”
With corruption and a nonchalant attitude, the Public Finance Management Act has morphed into a toothless piece of legislation as public institutions engage in rampant corruption with impunity.
By Letwin Mubonesi
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