As Zimbabwe walks a fiscal tightrope with the government squeezing every dollar it can from taxpayers, revelations of failure to follow transparency procedures by the Treasury are worrying.
The increasing lack of financial transparency by the Treasury calls for a business-unusual approach.
This compounds repeated revelations in the Auditor General’s reports of failure to follow accounting standards by other government entities, with 64 local government councils receiving adverse audit reports in 2024.
The Ministry of Finance has been a bad leader, having failed to submit its statements in time for the 2024 audit.
Though the Ministry has been spending beyond the budgets approved by Parliament, it has failed to submit Condonations Bills for approval by Parliament to enable oversight and tracking of final expenditure by legislators.
This failure to bring condonation Bills, or supplementary budgets, violates the Constitution of Zimbabwe and the Public Finance Management Act.
Section 305 (5) of the Constitution states that if the money budgeted for a certain purpose “…is insufficient or expenditure is needed for a purpose to which no money is appropriated, the Minister responsible for finance must cause an additional or supplementary budget.”
During the previous Mid-Term Budget Statements, the Finance Minister, Prof. Mthuli Ncube, has failed to present supplementary budgets for approval by the legislature, despite these being evidently required, judging from the spending rates of some ministries.
By mid-year, the Ministry of Transport had spent 116 % of its allocated budget, indicating that it would need a supplementary budget to reach the end of the year, yet the Minister of Finance did not submit a supplementary budget.
Despite the efforts expended by legislators and other stakeholders in analysing and debating the National Budget annually, the MPs complained of what appears to be a disbursement pattern consistently violating the approved budget.
ZITAP concurs with the MPs in questioning the Treasury’s commitment to following the regulations and role modelling of financial transparency and management to other government departments.
The current macroeconomic environment, especially the government’s tight fiscal space, requires public institutions to follow procedures to safeguard taxpayers’ monies and ensure efficient allocation and use of public revenue.
Respecting the stipulated procedures of public accounting and budgeting, including Parliament and the Auditor General’s oversight roles, is crucial.
For Zimbabwe to realise economic transformation, the Treasury’s approach to financial procedures and the country’s approach to public audits must change.