Eng. Nicholas Gumbo

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 311 to 320 of 3504.

• 16 Aug 2016 in National Assembly: I want to draw the attention of the House to the observations from the Committee proceedings, evidence taken and selected project visits and findings that relate to the fiscal year under review. view
• 16 Aug 2016 in National Assembly: First, there was non-compliance with the accounting standards. During the year under review, the Committee noted several accounting errors in appropriation accounts. More significantly, there were numerous cases of lack of footnotes and balances in Appropriation Accounts and those in the trial balances and ledgers not agreeing or tallying. The Committee notes that this was as a result of non-adherence to the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS), which are yet to be adopted across the Government. Lack of adherence to IPSAS was the key contributing factor to the several audit queries that we encountered. Indeed, some Accounting Officers admitted ... view
• 16 Aug 2016 in National Assembly: keep proper records or fail to report in compliance with the IPSAS framework, or do not present records as and when required by law. view
• 16 Aug 2016 in National Assembly: Secondly, there are challenges to do with the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS), which was introduced to support the Government’s as well as agency level policy decisions. It was also meant to integrate Budget and Budget execution data allowing great financial control and reducing opportunities for discretion in the use of public funds. The system was designed to provide information for Budget planning, analysis and the Government wide reporting, to facilitate preparation of financial statements and to provide a complete audit trail in order to facilitate audit. The Committee held discussions with the Cabinet Secretary (CS) of the National ... view
• 16 Aug 2016 in National Assembly: In the foregoing, the Committee was further informed that the certificate of ownership of the IFMIS software still rests with the supplier. Therefore, the country has no exclusive rights on its ownership and improvement. The data back-up by the Directorate of IFMIS is also wanting since the redundant system is yet to be fully implemented. For the IFMIS system to be completely fool-proof, you need both primary and secondary data back-up systems. Therefore, the Committee recommends that the National Treasury conducts an independent systems audit on IFMIS, geared towards simplification of use and safeguards of public funds. Most importantly, the ... view
• 16 Aug 2016 in National Assembly: Thirdly, there is the issue of delayed Exchequer releases. While examining and scrutinising the financial statements relating to the Financial Year 2013/2014, the Committee observed that implementation of most of the projects and programmes lag behind due to inadequate or delayed Exchequer releases. This situation exposes the Government to serious obligatory challenges caused by non-adherence to contract agreements and provides a basis for litigation by service providers. This always leads to additional costs on interest charges and exgratia payments. The Committee recommends that all projects and programmes Funds should be ring- fenced within the Ministries’, departments’ and agencies’ budgets, and ... view
• 16 Aug 2016 in National Assembly: Fourthly, there is the issue of unresolved audit queries. The Committee noted that many issues were resolved long after the exit meetings, and after directives during appearances by Accounting Officers before PAC yet the same queries are reflected in the Blue Book as outstanding. The PAC is of the view that all Government MDAs ought to be the ones to schedule exit meetings with the Auditor-General regarding their audits and not vice-versa . We are concerned that some MDAs still think that it is the business of the Auditor-General to chase them around town to schedule exit meetings. The Committee, ... view
• 16 Aug 2016 in National Assembly: Moreover, the Committee noted that some contractors were abusing the judicial process to frustrate Government projects. Indeed, this revelation by the Committee speaks to the whole question of the use of court systems to avoid accountability. We have noted, a lot of times those who fall foul to the law, particularly with regard to accounting for public matters, usually result to the courts in a way to either forestall or avoid accountability altogether. Indeed, this matter came up in our meeting with the ‘big nine’ which included the leaderships of various parts of the Government. A notable example of this ... view
• 16 Aug 2016 in National Assembly: The Committee also noted that officers in the Public Works Department were an impediment to effective and efficient project implementation. They often inflate bills of quantities and overdesigned a lot of the work and failed to professionally supervise the works. This has led to contracting of private consultants to supervise works, an extra and unnecessary cost to the taxpayer. In this regard, the Committee recommends as follows:- (a) The Ministry responsible for Public Works must identify all contractors with a poor track record in execution of Government contracts and blacklist them from being awarded Government contracts. (b) The Ministry responsible ... view
• 16 Aug 2016 in National Assembly: (d) Interest payments arising from delay in honouring payment certificates will be avoided if MDAs prioritise the preparation of annual procurement plans and attendant work plans to facilitate prompt requisitioning of funds from the National Treasury. On the other hand, the National Treasury should ring-fence project funds for timely releases and on requisitioning. (a) We noted rampant cases of unapproved project work and cost variations on Government contracts. Project managers are advised to avoid such variations since they distort the project procurement plans given that the variations will be above the recommended 25 per cent limit on bills of quantities ... view