The parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is considering ways of harmonising efforts geared at combating corruption.Hon. Jean Baptiste Musemakweli told The New Times on Wednesday that PAC will hold a consultative meeting today aimed at harmonising efforts with government budget managers . The meeting will bring together officials from parastatals, audit institutions, the National Public Prosecution Authority (NPPA), and other law enforcement institutions.According to Musemakweli, the legislators hope to devise a mechanism to curtail misuse and embezzlement of tax payers’ money and recovery of lost funds. “We want budget managers to be informed. We want to hear from each other about all aspects of the budget process. All parties, be it the NPPA that prosecutes wrongdoers, the police that investigates, and others, will participate,” he said.“There will be presentations from the Ministry of Finance on how public funds are managed, how they are released to institutions and how these institutions should use money and report, accordingly. We will listen to the Auditor General on the procedures he uses while compiling the annual reports. The RPPA will also brief us on related matters from their perspective.”When the Auditor General, Obadiah Biraro, presented the 2010/11 audit report to both Chambers of Parliament in June this year, he disclosed that ministries and parastatals spent at least Rwf 5 .9 billion without supporting documents.Previously highlighted malpractices included embezzlement, sheer mismanagement of public funds, lack of supporting documents and wasteful public spending.Musemakweli pointed out that their agenda was to harmonise operations in the fight against graft, especially after some officials who appeared before PAC complained about the manner in which the Auditor General compiles his reports.In the past, some officials whose institutions were implicated in abuse of public funds claimed they were not given ample time to provide enough information.Lawmakers want to see an end to the blame game.“Some people told us they were not present or they were not available at the time when people from the office of the Auditor General were compiling their report. This is something we do not want to happen again,” Musemakweli said.“It is clearly stated in the Penal Code that if you do not provide the documents requested within the specific time of the audit period, there is no excuse. Legally, the auditors do not come without prior notice”.Normally, an institution set to be audited is officially alerted at least 30 days before the auditors undertake their work.The committee will begin its in-depth analysis of the Auditor General’s 2010/11 report, sometime next week.
