27 Oct 2022

 Public accounts committees (PACs) within SADC are pushing for a regional oversight model that will ensure taxpayers receive best value for money spent by their governments.

SADC Organisation of Public Accounts Committees (SADCOPAC) chairperson, Mr Warren Mwambazi said the envisaged model would address disparities and inconsistencies among PACs.

“It is a work in progress, we are doing well but not to the extent where we want things to be,” he told journalists on the sidelines of the organisation’s 14th annual conference and 18th annual general meeting in Gaborone recently.

 Mr Mwambazi, who is Zambia PAC chairperson,  said among the key challenges facing the region’s PACs were lack of funding and inadequate government support.

That was further compounded by the fact that PACs were following the Commonwealth model of being headed by a member of the opposition in Parliament, he said.

The scenario, he said, made it difficult for PACs to adequately play their primary role of scrutinising government accounts.

Mr Mwambazi revealed that the regional organisation had been on a benchmarking drive to build members’ expertise and knowledge.“We want to move towards regional integration, we want to set standards and adopt the best practices,” SADCOPAC secretary general, Mr Dithapelo Keorapetse said.

He explained that the organisation, which was affiliated to the African Organisation of Public Accounts Committees and Commonwealth Association of Public Accounts Committees was prepared to learn and adopt best practices to strengthen regional PACs.

Mr Keorapetse said generally PACs were faced with a common problem of not being mandated to take legal action against accounting officers.

“We can only make recommendations to the national assembly, so it is up to the National Assembly to take over, but still the National Assembly takes everything to the executive,” said Tanzania PAC chair Ms Naghenjwa Kaboyoka.

She said because accounting officers were appointees of the executive, recommendations meant to ensure taxpayers received best value for money on government spending yielded nothing significant.“I hope there will be a time where we can take real action against those accounting officers,” Ms Kaboyoka said.

PACs, she noted, were supposed to provide real oversight and take action against public officers who take accountability of public funding.

 Ms Kaboyoka expressed the hope that through various benchmarking activities, the regional PAC model would materialise.The SADCOPAC conference, which started Monday, ends today. Ends