DEPUTY Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Ray Ndhlukula says some State enterprises have not produced audited financial results for the past 10 years and were contributing far less to the economy instead than what they were supposed to.
BY TATIRA ZWINOIRA
Speaking at the second Annual Public Sector Audit conference yesterday in Harare, Ndhlukula said evidence showed that public enterprises, at their best used to contribute 40% to the gross domestic product (GDP) in the 1990s, but were now contributing just 11%.
“… unlike the current scenario, where most of them have been dependent on the fiscus, thereby, exacerbating the budget deficit and crowding out private sector investment,” he said.
“From 40% contribution to GDP, it apparently now stands at 11%, so we want to push it back to 40% or even better.”
Ndhlukula said parastatals would now be required to provide annual financial statements.
“The reform [Public Sector Corporate Governance Enterprise Bill] also requires the production of audited financial statements by these entities as per the legislative and regulative provisions,” he said.
“Some of them have not produced audited accounts for the past 10 years. How they continue to be there is amazing.
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“The Bill was approved by Cabinet and will be taken to Parliament for further consideration until it is signed into law, we are hoping this will be done before the end of August.”
Ndhlukula said the government was taking measures to strengthen the audit function in the public sector such as the setting-up of audit committees in all ministries, the creation of head of internal audit units in government and the development of internal audit manuals.
Others will include the preparation of overall strategy guidelines for the development of audit charters in all ministries and introducing an audit management system.
Also, the government is working on further development of the Auditor-General’s Office and finance departments across the entire public sector into professional institutions anchored by global best practices and experiences.
Ndhlukula said poor public sector financial management continued to be pointed out as a key factor impacting severely on development.
“I would like to applaud the office of the Auditor-General for the great work they are doing for timeously producing the audit reports pointing out the shortcomings in the use of public funds and recommending corrective measures needed to optimise the scarce resources,” he said.
