Bunge’s LAAC order a cut from Moshi District Council Executives' salaries
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The Parliamentary
Committee for Local Authority Accounts (LAAC) has ordered executives of
the Moshi District Council (MDC) to have their salaries deducted with
effect from next month.
The money will compensate the printing costs the council had dubiously incurred for unspecified number of booklets on reports of the council’s financial
LAAC’s Committee Chairman Rajab Mbarouk Mohammed issued the directive yesterday in Dar es Salaam after having gone
The money will compensate the printing costs the council had dubiously incurred for unspecified number of booklets on reports of the council’s financial
LAAC’s Committee Chairman Rajab Mbarouk Mohammed issued the directive yesterday in Dar es Salaam after having gone
through
the reports which the MDC had presented before the committee members
and found that they do not conform to the annual reports of the
Controller and Auditor General (CAG).
Earlier the committee had realized that apart from misusing the council’s funds by way of printing the report, in addition it had discovered that the report was not approved by the councilors up to the time it was being presented to them.
However, on realizing such cheating the committee had imposed the penalty as a deterrent for other executives in various district councils having the habit of preparing wrong financial statements for income and expenditure, and presenting them before the committee.
To accomplish the task, the LAAC has ordered an ethical committee of the MDC to certify the value of the booklets already printed and their total costs so as to get the correct amount of money for each one of them to be deducted from their salaries.
However, when contacted to comment on the issue and give a rough estimate of the total value of the printing costs, the MDC executive Fulgence Mponji declined to say anything further on account of the fact that he did not have the correct figure already with him.
Earlier, the LAAC boycotted the MDC’s report on account that it was not audited by the CAG and wondered why some of the information about the report was published in the leading national daily Mwananchi without the approval of the CAG, a mistake that director Mponji admitted to have committed.
LAAC issued other directives after having gone through the CAG report through various pages, underlining some of the rules the MDC had flouted and failed to adhere to regulations per the directives noted in the CAG report.
He said when analyzing deliberations by the committee at the end of the meeting, it ordered that the MDC pay 20 percent of their total annual income as subsidy for rural development.
The committee also ordered the MDC to list down the number of villages to which it had disbursed Sh. 192 million it so claimed to the CAG, accompanied by payment receipts to verify the amounts of money already paid.
Since then the committee has discovered that the MDC failed to disburse money intended for women and youths, whereas five percent of council earnings, a program under the Ministry of Community Development, Women and Children, directing that it completes the delivery by the end of this month.
Additionally, the committee was disappointed by the MDC which it said contravened financial regulations as it was contrary to the law to publish any financial report in the media without the consent of the councilors. The move had also violated tendering procedures, the LAAC chairman noted.
CAG reports indicated that the MDC had issued imprests amounting to Sh. 35 million for the renovation of the residence of the District Medical Officer (DMO), and other funds used for road maintenance, where on both items procurement regulations were not followed.
On the Himo international market, the chairman noted that the committee discovered that the market is able to collect over Sh. 500,000 per day, but was annoyed to hear that regional government officials interfere with the daily collections at the market, which has cut down collections.
In view of this, the committee has warned the director to be careful and shouldn’t allow subordinates to over control him in official matters, the LAAC chairman intoned.
MDC account books are not correct while others do not give updated information about financial transactions, he said, noting that the committee has ordered MP for Moshi Rural Dr. Cyril Chami to work closely with district officials to bring the financial records to order.
Dr. Chami, an economist and committee and formerly mnister for Trade and Industry highlighted some of the problems with the MDC. He said that PMO-RALG (Ministry of Regional Administration and Local Governments in the Prime Minister’s Office) has the tendency of transferring its directors frequently, contributing to lower performance levels.
Earlier the committee had realized that apart from misusing the council’s funds by way of printing the report, in addition it had discovered that the report was not approved by the councilors up to the time it was being presented to them.
However, on realizing such cheating the committee had imposed the penalty as a deterrent for other executives in various district councils having the habit of preparing wrong financial statements for income and expenditure, and presenting them before the committee.
To accomplish the task, the LAAC has ordered an ethical committee of the MDC to certify the value of the booklets already printed and their total costs so as to get the correct amount of money for each one of them to be deducted from their salaries.
However, when contacted to comment on the issue and give a rough estimate of the total value of the printing costs, the MDC executive Fulgence Mponji declined to say anything further on account of the fact that he did not have the correct figure already with him.
Earlier, the LAAC boycotted the MDC’s report on account that it was not audited by the CAG and wondered why some of the information about the report was published in the leading national daily Mwananchi without the approval of the CAG, a mistake that director Mponji admitted to have committed.
LAAC issued other directives after having gone through the CAG report through various pages, underlining some of the rules the MDC had flouted and failed to adhere to regulations per the directives noted in the CAG report.
He said when analyzing deliberations by the committee at the end of the meeting, it ordered that the MDC pay 20 percent of their total annual income as subsidy for rural development.
The committee also ordered the MDC to list down the number of villages to which it had disbursed Sh. 192 million it so claimed to the CAG, accompanied by payment receipts to verify the amounts of money already paid.
Since then the committee has discovered that the MDC failed to disburse money intended for women and youths, whereas five percent of council earnings, a program under the Ministry of Community Development, Women and Children, directing that it completes the delivery by the end of this month.
Additionally, the committee was disappointed by the MDC which it said contravened financial regulations as it was contrary to the law to publish any financial report in the media without the consent of the councilors. The move had also violated tendering procedures, the LAAC chairman noted.
CAG reports indicated that the MDC had issued imprests amounting to Sh. 35 million for the renovation of the residence of the District Medical Officer (DMO), and other funds used for road maintenance, where on both items procurement regulations were not followed.
On the Himo international market, the chairman noted that the committee discovered that the market is able to collect over Sh. 500,000 per day, but was annoyed to hear that regional government officials interfere with the daily collections at the market, which has cut down collections.
In view of this, the committee has warned the director to be careful and shouldn’t allow subordinates to over control him in official matters, the LAAC chairman intoned.
MDC account books are not correct while others do not give updated information about financial transactions, he said, noting that the committee has ordered MP for Moshi Rural Dr. Cyril Chami to work closely with district officials to bring the financial records to order.
Dr. Chami, an economist and committee and formerly mnister for Trade and Industry highlighted some of the problems with the MDC. He said that PMO-RALG (Ministry of Regional Administration and Local Governments in the Prime Minister’s Office) has the tendency of transferring its directors frequently, contributing to lower performance levels.
-- IPP - The Guardian
