Transcript Joseph Manzi, Clerk, Public Accounts Committee, Malawi

“IMPROVING FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT: ROLE OF
THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE CLERK”
MALAWI’S EXPERIENCE
By
Joseph Joel Manzi
Clerk of the Public Accounts Committee for Malawi Parliament
3RD WESTMINSTER WORKSHOP FOR PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
COMMITTEES HELD IN LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
24TH – 27TH JUNE, 2013
INTRODUCTION
•
PACs play critical role of ensuring integrity,
accountability, transparency and improving
efficiency in the management of public funds.
•
However, PACs cannot function on their own
without the support of the Secretariat.
•
Secretariat provides the technical and
administrative support services to the
Committee for it to perform its duties effectively
and efficiently.
PAC SECRETARIAT IN MALAWI
• Standing Orders for the Malawi Parliament
recognize a need for each Committee to have its
Secretariat.
• Standing Order 177 states: “Each Committee shall
have committee staff including a Committee Clerk
and a Parliamentary Researcher and may engage
the services of technical consultants”.
In Malawi, PAC secretariat comprises staff from
Parliament and from the Audit General’s Office
(National Audit Office).
Staff from Parliament comprises the following, among
others:
• PAC Clerk as the Lead Clerk;
• 3 other Clerks;
• a Researcher;
• Parliamentary Reporters and Editors of Hansard;
and
• Other support staff, e.g. Ushers and Audio Visual
Staff
From the National Audit Office
• The work of the Public Accounts Committee is largely based
on the Auditor General’s Reports.
• As such, the Auditor General is the principal technical
advisor of the Committee as it is examining the Reports.
• In attending the PAC meetings, the Auditor General is
accompanied by other Senior Auditors from his or her
office.
ROLE OF A PAC CLERK
• Central coordinating unit in as far as the provision of
secretarial support services to the Committee is concerned.
• The Clerk is a link between the Committee and other
members of the Secretariat.
CLERK’S ROLE SUMMARIZED IN 4 MAIN FUNCTIONS
1.
2.
3.
4.
Provision of administrative and secretariat services
Provision of advice on Committee Practice and Procedure
Coordination of research and analytical support services
Managing the interaction between the Committee and
stakeholders
1. Provision of administrative and secretariat
services
• Preparation of agenda and programme for Committee meetings
under the direction of the Chairperson.
• In Malawi, the Rules of the House require that notice of the
meeting should be circulated at least two weeks before the date of
the meeting. It is, therefore, the Clerk’s responsibility to ensure
that this requirement is met.
• The Clerk ensures that the programme for the appearance of the
Controlling Officers before the Committee is implemented as
planned.
• Minute taking during committee meetings.
• Drafting Committee reports .
2. Provision of advice on Practice and
Procedure
• Clerk is a non-political officer in the Committee. As
such, he or she is expected to provide his or her
advice to the Committee in a professional and nonpartisan manner.
• It is also important that the Clerk should be familiar
with Standing Orders and precedents.
3. Coordination of research and analytical support
services
• The Clerk provides direction to the Committee
Researcher to prepare background information where
necessary on issues under the Committee’s inquiry.
• The Clerk coordinates the preparatory meetings for the
Secretariat, i.e. to prepare for draft questions and
necessary documentation for the Committee.
• Allocating specific tasks to members of the Secretariat
either as individuals or as groups, e.g. following up with
Controlling Officers on the written responses to the
audit queries.
4. Managing the interaction between the
Committee and stakeholders
• The Clerk facilitates the interface between the
Committee and its stakeholders which include
Controlling Officers summoned to appear before
the Committee to answer audit queries, Civil
Society Organizations, the media and the general
public.
ATTRIBUTES OF AN EFFECTIVE PAC CLERK
• excellent knowledge of Standing Orders and common practices.
• good working relationship with the Chairperson and all other
Committee Members.
• political tact
• non-partisan
• Proactive
• communicates at all levels
• embrace a reading culture.
CHALLENGES
1. Frequent changes of the Committee membership
• In Malawi, powers to appoint and remove a Member to
and from the Committee, respectively, rest with the
party Whips whenever they see it fit.
• No rule to guarantee the tenure of membership to a
Committee.
• As such, there are frequent changes to the Committee
membership which, as a result, pose serious challenge
to the Secretariat in terms of orientation of the new
Committee Members.
2. Financial limitations
• Treasury funding, in most cases, is not adequate to
enable the Committee to meet and carry out its
planned activities as desired.
• As a result, the Committee:
a) has a backlog of the Auditor General’s Reports
unattended to; and
b) fails to implement capacity building
programmes for its Members and Secretariat,
e.g. training workshops and attachments to
other Parliaments.
3. Understaffing
• Although Malawi Parliament, through its Parliamentary
Service Commission (PSC), is mandated to recruit its own
staff, however, the PSC is required to seek authority from
the Department of Human Resource Management
(DHRMD) of the Executive Branch of Government to fill
vacant posts.
• This poses a challenge in the sense that, in certain cases
and due to any reasons, the DHRMD declines to grant the
authority to fill the vacant posts, resulting into shortage of
staff.
MEASURES TO ADDRESS THE IDENTIFIED
CHALLENGES
1. Review of the Standing Orders
• The Malawi Parliament, through its Committee on
Legal Affairs has just completed a process of
reviewing the current Standing Orders in which a
proposal has been made that the tenure of
Committee membership should be pegged to the
life of Parliament, a move which is aimed at creating
a sense of permanence on the Committee
membership as compared to the current situation.
Pledge for increased Treasury Funding and
Donor Support
• There is commitment from the Ministry of Finance
to increase allocation for Committee meetings
including the PAC meetings.
• In addition, some Development and Cooperating
Partners, such as Norway, British (DFID), Germany
which support accountability programmmes in
Malawi, have pledged financial support to the PAC
and the National Audit Office.
CONCLUSION
• The role of the PAC Clerk in facilitating the PAC’s
oversight function of holding the Executive to
account for its use of the public funds is clearly
inevitable and need not to be overemphasized.
• It is, therefore, important for decision makers at any
level to seriously consider providing the necessary
support to the PAC Clerks if the PACs they are
servicing are to operate efficiently and effectively.