18 Mar 2013

Members of Parliament have expressed differing views on the motion calling on government to introduce per diem for local travel.

Debating the motion by the MP for Palapye, Mr Moisaraele Goya in Parliament, some MPs agreed that the move would help in ensuring that government does not continue to lose millions of Pula in unretired imprests.

Others, however, were of the view that the introduction of per diem for local travel does not address the root cause of the problem.

Francistown South MP, Mr Wynter Mmolotsi said Botswana had for a long time employed a dual system that allowed for the use of both imprest and per diem. He was of the opinion that the use of per diem was more advantageous than imprest.

MP Mmolotsi told Parliament that the use of per diem for local trips would help keep government books clean, thereby addressing the challenge of failure to retire imprest by officers.

He noted that having to account for the use of money while on official trips could disturb officers and hamper the discharge of duties for which they embarked on the trip. He added that there was a need for financial accounting to be addressed in a different manner.

For her part, the MP for Mahalapye East, Ms Botlogile Tshireletso said officers should be given the option to use either imprest or per diem, saying per diem would help in instances where officers travel to places where there were no hotels and shops do not issue receipts.

However, she urged fellow MPs to note that per diem also called for accounting and that it must be retired through the submission of receipts.

This, Ms Tshireletso said, was being done to ensure that the officer who was issued with the per diem had indeed undertaken the trip in question though they were not expected to return any money to the government.

Disagreeing on the need for the extension of per diem to cover local travel, the MP for Chobe, Mr Gibson Nshimwe accused accounting officers of not doing their job of ensuring that imprests were retired as required.

Wondering what led to officers not submitting receipts on their return from trips, Mr Nshimwe said if officers spent the money given to them in an appropriate manner there would be no reason for them not to do what was expected and required of them.

Though in support of the motion, Tati East MP, Mr Guma Moyo said there was a general lack of proper accounting in relation to budgets for travelling.

“Budgets for travelling should be accounted for just like any other. The problem is accounting and it has to be sorted out,” he said.

Presenting the motion earlier, MP Goya said the introduction of per diem for local travel would help the government save millions, saying unpaid imprests from 2008 to 2012 stood at over  P53 million.

He described as a serious challenge failure by some public officers to retire imprests after undertaking official trips, emphasising the need for the situation to be addressed speedily.

He said the 14 days regulation to retire imprests upon return from trips was not quite effective in addressing the challenge as some officers continued to defy it.

Outlining the advantages of per diem, he said its attractive amounts would encourage officers to use it in lieu of imprests, adding that its use would also deter officers from staying at hotels charging exorbitant fees thereby helping both the government and officers to save.

For those officers who will opt to continue using imprests, Mr Goya suggested a 10 per cent penalty for all imprests retired after their due dates. ENDS