By BRIAN HATYOKA -
GOVERNMENT is concerned with incidences of flouting tender procedures and short-circuiting accounting procedures for the sole purpose of short-lived expediency, Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda has said.
Mr Chikwanda warned perpetrators of such vices that the Government would not relent in instituting appropriate sanctions in the process of ensuring that the public service, including all other agencies directly or indirectly connected to central and local Government, were above reproach in financial matters.
He said Government could not continue with the incessant toiling of creating wealth which only ended in a few pockets.
He was speaking in Livingstone at Zambezi Sun Hotel on Wednesday when he officially opened the annual business conference hosted by the Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants (ZICA), Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).
The conference was being held under the theme “the accountancy profession: wealth creation and entrepreneurship.”
Mr Chikwanda, who represented President Michael Sata at this year’s conference, said the public sector needed to move away from the entrenched culture of appearing in the Auditor General’s Report.
“National wealth is for all, and accountants, including associated professionals like auditors, must take the lead in ensuring that equitable wealth distribution is attained in Zambia,” he said.
He said a complete change of culture in the accountancy profession in Zambia could not be achieved unless the provisions of the Finance Act, coupled with appropriate support and sanctions by ZICA, ACCA and CIMA against ailing accounting practitioners were applied.
“Members of ZICA, CIMA and ACCA Zambia chapter will always be our allies more so as the decentralisation process gathers momentum.
“However, while it is in our interest to move expeditiously in implementing employment creation and poverty reduction programmes, this will be at the expense of adhering to good financial management and other governance statutes, rules, and regulations across all levels of Government,” he said.
He urged all members of the accounting profession to report to appropriate law enforcement agencies any member, organisation or entity, whether from the public or private sector, who engaged in misappropriation and misdirection of public funds.
Mr Chikwanda noted that some public service workers, in conspiracy with some private sector players, had failed in principles of collaboration, consultation, transparency and accountability.
ZICA president Fredrick Banda said there had always been a concern that the total national budget had been increasing over the years but there had not been a corresponding cause-effect relationship with poverty levels, especially in rural areas.
Mr Banda said once the Planning and Budgeting Act was enacted, it would potentially address issues of budget overruns and ensure that resources were channelled to the lowest levels in the central and local governance structures.
ZICA chief executive officer Hapenga Kabeta said the annual business conference had been designed for the accountancy profession to contribute to the development .