SPEAKER of Parliament, Jacob Mudenda says Public Accounts Committees (PACs) play a pivotal role in ensuring transparency and accountability in government operations.
Addressing stakeholders at the SADCOPAC training session, Mudenda said accountability holds leaders responsible for public funds, prioritizing national interests and legality while good governance enables citizen involvement in public finance decisions through democratic representation.
“Accountability means being answerable to the citizens on how those that govern have prudentially or otherwise utilised the power of the public purse in pursuit of the national interests that propagate the prosperity of the citizenry as guided by the law and the justice of the cause for national development.
“On the contrary, good governance is the government for the people, with the people and by the people guided by the tenets of democracy whereby the people must have a say on how the public sector finance is expended through the scrutiny by their representatives in Parliament.
“There is need for checks and balances in striving for accountability and good governance in our public institutions,” he said.
Mudenda welcomed SADCOPAC’s efforts in championing financial oversight and capacity building, emphasizing the significance of the theme:
Added Mudenda: “Enhancing transparency and good governance: promoting transparency in government operations and fostering good governance practices.”
The training comes at a time when PACs in the region are struggling with bad governance, transparency and accountability issues that are delaying progress in most Southern African economies. — NewZimbabwe