Playing pandu with COPE

Legislators of all shades, whilst playing ‘Pandu’ with COPE as its football, have recently lived up to their reputation.

They have continued with their dirty and non value adding games. They have expanded on their usual arrogant, uncaring and irresponsible behaviours of being self seeking politicians, not committed to the growth and prosperity of the nation and its people.

The act of bringing in a no confidence motion in preference to other value adding measures and options available to act on the published COPE reports and the attempt by a newly appointed legislator, using his family connection driven perceived power to scuttle the role, responsibility and empowered authority of COPE, Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and Auditor General are deplorable, and outside the expected norms of behaviour and conduct expected from legislators. These acts are a waste of parliamentary time and resources.

All in civil society, especially professionals, media, and leaders with public interest must now voice their opinion loudly and use their collective capability and commitment towards assuring effective public financial accountability is maintained in all key areas of governance.

COPE and PAC are two oversight committees of parliament created to empower the legislators to assure that public funds are used efficiently and effectively for purposes intended by the legislator and to assure that the Executive including the public service are discharging their public financial accountability efficiently and effectively and optimizing service delivery, national growth and prosperity.

Vinod Sagal of the World Bank in a presentation titled “The importance of Quality Parliamentary Oversight: A Global View” (November 2001) stresses

* The importance of effective budgeting and budgetary control with emphasis on the management and utilization of funds and performance reporting and not on levels of expenditure and related allocations.

*The need for institutions of public financial accountability and control with parliamentary oversight at the top of the list:-

* The need to focus on performance accounting in preference to financial accounting.

* Strengthening the control environment at funds disbursement point.

* The government’s accountability to citizens being assured through the parliamentary oversight.

* Public financial accountability and sound management of all resources of the state.

* Performing the “watchdog “ role by taking ownership and providing motivators and incentives for an enhanced culture of responsible governance to be in place.

* Enforcing effectively the standards of audit.

* The need for institutional capacity building.

* The need for coalition and network alliance building.

It is important that all members of COPE and PAC, without exception and irrespective of their position and network connections are inducted before membership in regard to the objectives of the committees’ expected role and responsibility, scope of work methodology and approach,operating rules and codes of conduct, required skills and competencies in order that the oversight committees deliver on the objectives set by the legislator.

The Chairman and members of COPE must be commended by the public for their role, in presenting reports to parliament and then having them published, as it has for the first time taken the initiative to demonstrate the need for public financial accountability, as well indicating those who may have been responsible for such failures. These reports must be now referred to the law enforcement arms, especially the Police (CID), Attorney General’s Department and the Commission on Bribery and Corruption for investigation and action in terms of the law.

Parliament must not take a role to investigate these matters further nor attempt to take on a judicial role. It is a waste of public resources and a dereliction of public duty by the legislators, if they, driven by political interests play games with these findings. Instead, there should be a debate of these reports on a bi-partisan basis and parliament must examine the issues, weaknesses, and failures as indicated identify the drivers of weaknesses and failures of controlagree the lessons for the future agree required strategies for improvement of financial accountability

Parliament must also take steps to further improve the efficiency and effectiveness of transparency, accountability and good governance and towards this consider the enactment of a Right to Information law; the enactment of a Whistle Blower and Victim Protection law; expand the scope, authority and empowerment of the government audit; legislate the new Audit Act; strengthen the capacity, independence and effectiveness of the Bribery and Corruption Commission; set up an independent panel of eminent persons to form a permanent Finance Commission on Public Financial Accountability especially to oversee public procurement, performance management and post and implementation review of key public investments/spends; and set up an oversight Committee of parliament linked to the work and recommendations of the Finance Commission.