PARLIAMENTARY committees in the Sadc region, with oversight over public accounts, must preserve their independence in carrying out their duties as they play a critical role in the management of taxpayers' money, Speaker of the National Assembly, Advocate Jacob Mudenda, has said .
Addressing members of the SADC Public Accounts Committees in the country on a training and benchmarking visit with their Zimbabwean counterparts in the Portfolio Committees of Public Accounts and of Budget, Finance and Economic Development, the Speaker said their roles were quite challenging.
"As the souls of our countries, those souls should not die, they must be eternally alive and in doing so it is our hope that during your training sessions, you will emphasise the hallowed virtue of independence, not as an independent MP but the independence of scrutiny, the scrutiny of how the public purse has been managed and as you monitor the management of the public purse. I think you must have the courage of your convictions.
"Without that courage of your convictions in exercising this elevated assignment, you will be failing our citizens because the public purse is a result of tax payers' money and the taxpayer in all jurisdictions will be looking for value for money. But more than that as we pass budgets in our parliamentary jurisdictions, the ultimate aim is to create wellness and happiness for all our citizens," Advocate Mudenda said.
The SADC Organisation of Public Accounts Committees (SADCOPAC) was formed in 2002 and is headquartered in Tanzania.
Advocate Mudenda also challenged the MPs to come up with ways of creating wealth for their nations through domestic resources mobilisation.
SADCOPAC chairman, Mr Warren Mwambazi, had earlier also noted the need for the member states to uphold the independence of the offices of their auditors' general, citing South Africa and Seychelles as examples.
"These are some of the things we would want to see in the region as well that, that office is independent, they can expand their scope and they can do their work without fear or favour," he said.
The delegation is on a three-day visit for the training programme.
