The US State Department has said Zimbabwe must make public President Robert Mugabe’s office budget as a step towards improving fiscal transparency.
This comes after the Comptroller and Auditor-General Mildred Chiri revealed that the President’s Office failed to produce documents for auditing purposes such as invoices, receipts and goods received to support payments.
“Zimbabwe’s fiscal transparency would be improved by detailing revenues and expenditures including allocations to the office of the President and Cabinet, and revenues from state-owned enterprises and natural resources; and making supreme audit institution reports publicly available within a reasonable period of time,” the US State Department’s 2015 Fiscal Transparency Report says.
The report said the budget is publicly available but does not clearly detail the large allocation to the office of the president and Cabinet.
Chiri’s latest report on the 2011 budget appropriations tabled in Parliament said Mugabe’s office paid for assets valued at about $500 000 without attaching invoices to validate the payments.
“The supreme audit institution audits the budget but its reports are not publicly available within a reasonable period of time,” the US State Department report said.
George Charamba, the presidential affairs spokesperson, could not be immediately reached for comment yesterday.
Annual reviews of the fiscal transparency of governments that receive US assistance help ensure taxpayers’ money is used appropriately and provides opportunities to dialogue with governments on the importance of fiscal transparency.
The US has provided over $2,6 billion in development assistance to Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, according to Shannon Smith, deputy assistant secretary for the bureau of African affairs.
“Zimbabwe’s fiscal transparency would also be improved by establishing laws and regulations governing natural resource extraction contracts and licensing, following the law in practice, and making basic information about such awards and contracts publicly available,” the US report said.
Fiscal transparency is a critical element of effective public financial management, helps in building market confidence, and underpins economic sustainability, as well as fostering government accountability. Daily News
2 Replies to “Disclose Mugabe’s Spending Figures, US Urges”
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THE YANKEES CAN GO TO HELL!!…how many times have we been told that “trillions” of dollars from their defence budget cannot be accounted for??!! Have we ever asked for any info on their expenditure??!!
No chance – the travelling air and roadshow of Africa’s leading stand up comedian will roll on (this guy is so ‘loved’ he even gets laughs when he falls down!).
At his last gig, Mugabe saved the best for last having the geriatric attendees of the AU Summit rolling on the floor in fits of laughter when he suggested they give Mugabe Economics a go !
“It’s a tried and tested system to guarantee you half a dozen 50 bed mansions, 14 farms, $25m private jets and fleets of executive cars!” said Mugabe to thunderous applause from the host Jacob Zuma and his bull necked CIO entourage resplendent in $1000 European silk suits and $5,000 Rolex watches.
“So how does this Mugabe Economics work to produce such undreamt of wealth for its leaders” enquired one Botswanan wag in the audience.
To roars of uncontrollable laughter Mugabe explained it works like this:
Firstly our team of financial gurus created 95% unemployment, and then elevated the 5% of those still in ‘work’ to slave status by not paying them but threatening them with the loss of their ‘jobs’ if they refused to work.
This delivered a world record 231 million per cent inflation in 2008, destroyed the economy and wiped out the accumulated cash savings of a century of hard work and enterprise.
We then collapsed the education and health system, halved the life expectancy and brought Zimbabwe the highest infant and maternal mortality in the world.
This enabled us to triple the death rate and drive a third of Zimbabwe’s population abroad to earn foreign currency for us, while we were busy looting the Reserve Bank of $1,3 billion a year, Noczim of $150 million a year, the Marange diamond mines of $2bn a year and a cumulative $3,4 billion from NSSA, to help keep us living in the style our people expect of ‘leaders’.