The ManicaPost
Rumbidzayi Zinyuke Senior Reporter
Parliament has been urged to use Government infrastructure at district level during National Budget consultations to get input from all stakeholders and ensure that the citizen’s views are captured.
Speaking at a Public Finance Management Reform indaba held in Mutare this week, Zimbabwe Coalition for Debt and Development (Zimcodd) regional chairperson Ms Mildret Muzanechita said although Parliament was facing funding constraints when carrying out Budget consultations, this should not be a limiting factor as the consultations were an integral part in coming up with the National Budget.
“We have seen that most of the recommendations are coming from provincial level while the people in districts are sidelined. We acknowledge that Government has no resources but I think these consultations can start at district level and we can have the existing Government structures facilitating these with the help of Parliament. We have the district development co-ordinator, the rural district councils and the Members of Parliament and these can come in and fill the gap,” she said.
She said there was also need for Parliament to simplify issues when conducting consultations to ensure maximum participation by everyone.
Finance Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube last month presented a $67,8 billion Budget, which proposed the implementation of various policies to promote production and boost economic growth.
Speaking at the same event, Parliament Budget Office director Mr Pepukai Chivore said Parliament was not very effective in consultations owing to financial constraints.
“We can look into using the district structures for consultations because we need a system that can work but does not involve using large amounts of money. There are countries that have implemented such systems that allow them to use technology to carry out such consultations and we can look into that. But we also have to make sure that our people are capable of using the system. We can also make use of constituency information centres for this purpose,” he said.
He said citizens had the right to approach Government and Parliament to demand clarity on issues they did not understand.
This would be a sure way to ensure accountability on the use of public finances.
“The most effective way to raise issues is through petitions. Citizens can petition Parliament to make a follow-up on that issue and the good thing about petitions is that they force Parliament to address them within a stipulated time frame. As citizens you need information and you have the right to push Government to ensure that everything they promised to do is done,” he said.
He said it was important for the general public to have access to the Budget statements and the Blue Book so that they can hold the Minister of Finance and Government to account on issues raised.
“Access to information is important. We are working towards making sure that the Budget is made available to everyone in a simplified form so that everyone can understand how the money they contribute through taxes is being used,” said Mr Chivore.
