Sat, 19 Nov 2016 10:22:48 +0000
PARLIAMENTARY Accounts Committee (PAC) yesterday grilled Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary Dr. Peter Mwaba for the second time over missing payment vouchers barely a day after he was interrogated over expired drugs worth K13, 750, 821.
The Committee chaired by Choma Central UPND Member of Parliament Cornelius Mweetwa noted with dismay yesterday that irregularities and misappropriation of funds in the Ministry of Health had not been reducing in all the previous Auditor General’s reports.On Thursday, the Committee was informed that drugs including ARVs amounting to K13, 750, 821 procured by the Ministry of Health expired following the changes in the treatment regime by World Health Organisation (WHO) and that a board of survey had been constituted to dispose-off the drugs.The K13, 750, 821 expired drugs include laboratory reagents, cancer drugs, malaria drugs and vaccines.Appearing before the committee again for interrogations, Dr. Mwaba attributed the irregularities captured in the 2015 Auditor General’s report to weak internal audit system in his ministry.
Dr. Mwaba told the committee that the payment vouchers in amounts totalling K7, 000 and K12, 446 that had gone missing at the Copperbelt Provincial Health Office and Kitwe School of Nursing had been found and were ready for verification.But the committee doubted the authenticity of payment vouchers produced by Dr. Mwaba which had gone missing during the time of auditing by the office of the Auditor General. Lukashya Independent Member of Parliament Mwenya Munkonge told Dr. Mwaba that there was no guarantee that payment vouchers which he produced yesterday were authentic because they were not verified by the Auditor General’s office.
Mr Munkonge wondered whether there was no fraud in the custodians of the payment vouchers following the missing of the documents during auditing.And committee chairman Cornelius Mweetwa asked Dr. Mwaba to underline whether his officers in the ministry had any regard for the Financial Regulations Act of 2006 and also whether he had oriented his provincial medical officers on the Act.In his response, Dr Mwaba said he had sent copies to all the provincial medical officers to acquaint themselves with the provisions of the Financial Act. Milenge Patriotic Front (PF) Mwansa Mbulakulima told Dr. Mwaba that the committee was not sitting to probe him but that also help him improve the audit system in the Ministry of Health.Mr Mbulakulima told Dr. Mwaba that although he attempted to respond to all the queries raised by the Auditor General’s report, there was need for him to instil a sense of responsibility in officers in order to help reduce the number of pages in the AG’s report.
And Solwezi West UPND Member of Parliament Teddy Kasonso told Dr. Mwaba that the Financial Act of 2006 was a Bible which he should have been using during the execution of his duties. Mr Kasonso said the Financial Act was not meant for permanent secretaries alone but for everyone in the ministry. “The role of this committee is to look at the breach of irregularities. It is important to avail this committee with the names of officers who have been dismissed for these irregularities. “We are not being hard on you but we are simply looking at the breaches,” Mr Kasonso said.
