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Parly committee backs PSC restructuring
Herald Reporter
THE Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Public Accounts has recommended a restructuring of the Public Service Commission among other measures to curb abuse of resources and corruption in Government.
The committee presented a damning report to the House of Assembly on Thursday, exposing abuse of resources and possible corruption in various ministries and Government departments.
"The PSC should be restructured to achieve greater efficiency and effectiveness in matters of employment," read part of the committee’s recommendations.
The committee also recommended that Government institutions bank whatever funds they collect to ensure security and facilitate proper auditing.
A number of Government schools in Bulawayo have not banked fees and levies, making auditing difficult and increasing chances of misappropriation of funds.
"All revenues must be banked within the stipulated timeline. All cash must be recorded and banked before withdrawal from the account for use," the committee said.
They added that vehicles donated by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to various ministries and departments be transferred permanently to ensure accountability on their status and use. The committee noted challenges brought about by the changeover from the use of the Zimbabwe dollar to a multi-currency system and added there was inadequate capacity within treasury to manage the change. They said the Ministry of Finance had been given the green light to employ the necessary personnel to deal with the problem but had not done so.
The committee said some ministries and departments deliberately failed to follow laid down procedures and used the change in the environment as an excuse to breach regulations.
It was found that the Youth Ministry unprocedurally employed youth officers.
The report noted abuse of fuel coupons, vehicles and continuous payment of employees who had long left Government service.
Some police stations had refused to open safes where exhibits were kept claiming that keys were missing.
This raised the suspicion that a lot of money could have been lost at the police stations. |
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