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FOLLOWING PM’S CONCERN ON AG’S OFFICE: PAC SUSPENDS SITTINGS, MARWICK SAYS PM OUT OF ORDER

08/06/2024 08:02:00 Ntombi Mhlongo

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MBABANE – The concern raised by the Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini, whereby he questioned the competency of the Auditor General’s Office has disrupted the operations of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

During the Editors Forum Breakfast Meeting held at the Mountain View Hotel on Thursday, the PM said findings made by the Audito General’s (AG) Office in relation to queries that touch on the books of the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), a parastatal where he was the chief executive officer (CEO) before his appointment, left a lot to be desired.
The PM said it was important to begin to look at whether the reports of the AG can be relied on. Following the assertions, the PAC yesterday announced a suspension of its sittings.
The announcement was made by PAC Chairperson Madala Mhlanga, who is a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Mhlangatane Inkhundla just before 10am, a time when the Ministry of Health was supposed to make an appearance to answer on a variety of queries raised in the report of the AG.

Invited

After making the announcement, the chairperson of the PAC then invited the officials from the Health Ministry and they arrived inside the chambers in numbers led by Principal Secretary Dr Khanya Mabuza. They were then informed about the latest developments and advised that they would be notified about when they should return. In terms of the law, the AG’s Office is a supreme audit institution and its role is to support the Executive by scrutinising the use of public funds by government ministries, departments and agencies, and to provide reasonable assurance and information about the reliability of financial reports and the use of public resources.

This helps the Executive in their stewardship function by overseeing the management of public funds and the quality and credibility of governments’ reported financial data. In a nutshell, the role of the AG’s Office is to assure all stakeholders that the Executive uses public funds for the purposes approved by Parliament and affirm to the quality, credibility and reliability of financial reports. On the other hand, the PAC was established in terms of section 209 (sub-sections 1 and 3) of the Constitution of Swaziland, 2005. Its duties are regulated by the Standing Orders of the House and include the duty to examine and report to the House on all government accounts tabled before the House in terms of Section 205(5). The AG submits reports to the minister responsible for Finance, who then tables them before both chambers of Parliament.

Powers

The powers of the PAC are stipulated in Section 129 (Sub-sections 2 and 5) of the Constitution as well as the Parliamentary Privileges Act of 1967 and the House of Assembly Standing Orders of 2006. The PAC is also charged with functions, including the investigation and enquiry into the activities and administration of ministries and departments. In the execution of their mandate, the PAC is supported by the Office of the AG through the submission of the reports and gets further evidence from those entrusted with stewardship of the public resources, on the audit issues, during deliberations. In terms of the Constitution, the PAC in Eswatini is the only statutory body empowered to interrogate the reports of the AG.

Speaking during a press conference yesterday, Mhlanga said in light of the reports they had seen culminating in the breakfast meeting, the statements by the PM touched on the operations of the AG’s Office, which audits public funds at different departments, parastatals and even schools. Mhlanga said it became apparent that the PM had signaled serious doubts on the AG’s Office, something which posed a challenge to the work of the PAC. “We feel that we cannot go on with our operations if a person of high standing like the PM has doubts on the competency of the AG’s Office. We were elected by Parliament to work with the Office of the AG. Therefore, it will be difficult to engage with principal secretaries of the various ministries if we are not given proper guidance on this issue,” he said. Elaborating, Mhlanga said there was a possibility that the principal secretaries and government officials will not cooperate with the PAC following the pronouncement by the PM to the effect that the AG’s reports were not to be relied on.

Guided

“What we will do now is suspend all the sittings we had planned and seek guidance and advice from the House, which is also guided by the attorney general. We will seek guidance on whether we should continue or wait until the PM satisfies himself about the competency of the AG’s Office,” Mhlanga said. He then apologised to the Ministry of Health for the suspension of the sitting. Furthermore, he clarified that by suspending the sittings, it did not mean that the PAC was stopping its mandate, but that it wanted to seek clarity first before proceeding. This publication sought a comment from the Speaker, Jabulani ‘Buy Cash’ Mabuza and Attorney General Sifiso Mashampu Khumalo on the matter. In particular, this publication wanted to know if the statement by the PM warranted the suspension of PAC sittings and what would happen next.

Both the Speaker and the AG stated that issues of Parliament were dealt with inside the House and that the matter would be resolved in the next sitting. On another note, a questionnaire was sent for the attention of the PM via Deputy Government Spokesperson Thabile Mdluli to which a response was forwarded which read: “The prime minister has nothing further to say on this matter. He will, however, address it in Parliament should there be a need to do so.” It should be noted that the Legislature has a crucial role to play in the accountability chain of government. According to a study by the European Court of Auditors, (2020), accountability and transparency are key ingredients to preserve public trust in public governance.

Accountability

Thus, the role of the Legislature in the accountability chain is to preserve public trust in public governance. The role entails holding government to account for the use of public funds.
It mentions that both a Parliament and a supreme audit institution have a crucial role to play in ensuring accountability, and are often natural partners in the accountability chain.
According to the study, Parliaments do not usually have the capacity or expertise to scrutinise the use of public funds by the governments, themselves. They rely on the objective and professional view of the supreme audit institution to provide them with reasonable assurance and information about the reliability of financial reports and the use of public resources.
Thus, the role of the supreme audit institution is to support the oversight role of Parliament by scrutinising the use of public funds by the government and to provide reasonable assurance and information about the reliability of financial reports and the use of public resources.