Action against financial malpractices commendable

TANZANIA: THE government, about two weeks ago, told the Parliament that it will continue instituting punitive measures against public servants engaging in .

Speaking with evidence that shows how the government was determined to deal with the matter, Deputy Minister of State in the President’s Office (Regional Administration and Local Government) Festo Dugange said having the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) issued the 2022/2023 FY audit reports, a total of 294 public servants, who were implicated in financial malpractices, were held to account.

Out of the total 294 public servants who were subjected to disciplinary measures, 20 were axed from job, five were jailed, 30 were arraigned to court, one was demoted, 100 were reprimanded, 14 had their salaries deducted and 114 had their cases handed over to PCCB for investigation.

The deputy minister said though the audit reports compiled by the CAG show an improvement in unqualified opinions, the government will spare no public officials, especially accounting, revenue officers and accountants in local governments accused of involvement in misuse of public funds.

Experts in financial management state that financial malpractices in Tanzania’s local governments include mismanagement of public funds, tax evasion and corruption. These issues have persisted despite reforms to improve local government performance.

Having adopted local government system, a huge chunk of Tanzania‘s budget has, every financial year, been directed to finance development project in district councils.

But these public funds can be misused through practices like inflated contracts, ghost projects, misappropriation of funds for personal use, poor financial record-keeping, lack of transparency in procurement processes, channeling funds to favoured contractors, neglecting essential services in favour of less visible projects and failing to properly monitor project implementation, often facilitated by weak accountability mechanisms and inadequate public oversight.

Apart from cases of financial fraud, top national leaders have been expressing concern on poor implementation of projects in the councils, a problem that appears to be rampant in councils.

A problem that has been too visible in project implementation in the councils is their failure to meet the required standards, with most of them lacking value for money. This problem has often been forcing President Samia Suluhu Hassan, Vice – President Dr Phillip Mpango and the Prime Minister Majaliwa to issue strong warnings against errant officials.

Tanzania, like any other nation, implements development projects in all sectors through funds collected from various sources, some from domestic sources and others from loans that must be paid back.

It brings no sense when we witness or hear that some public leaders, somewhere in this country, have either embezzled or stolen public money that should have been used to finance certain development projects.