“From now on, all the contracts concerning the country’s natural resources will be under the Tanzania's Controller and Auditor General (CAG) office. Unlike in the past where all the contracts were kept secret by the government and the Tanzania Petroleum Development Cooperation (TPDC),” PAC chairperson, Zitto Kabwe told reporters yesterday in Dar es Salaam.
He was speaking after witnessing the signing of a two-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the National Audit Office of Tanzania (NAOT) and the Netherlands’ Court of Audit and the office of the Auditor General of Norway. The MoU aims to cement NAOT’s audit of the petroleum sector.The signing ceremony included an oversight committee from the Norwegian Parliament and was witnessed by Ambassadors from the two countries.
Zitto said all contracts related to petroleum will be under the Controller and Auditor General’s (CAG) office.
“It will not be like in the past when all contracts were kept top secret between the government and the Tanzania Petroleum Development Cooperation (TPDC),” assured Zitto, noting that previously even the CAG could not audit such contracts since they were in the hands of the government and TPDC.
However, Zitto stressed that there should be an agreement between TPDC and CAG regarding the auditing of all inked contracts for the benefit of the country.
Zitto said out of 26 contracts in the petroleum sector, only 4 have been taken to Parliament for deliberation.
“The move of making all oil and gas contracts public will be historic to our country,” he said, adding that the strategy will thwart mismanagement of natural resources and ensure transparency and accountability in the lucrative sector.
Regarding the partnership with Norway and the Netherlands the outspoken MP said the MoU will enhance proper management of natural resources.
“Auditing natural resources especially in the petroleum sector is the key to transparency,” he said, calling upon the CAG’s office to ensure that all audited reports are made public.
For his part, the CAG, Prof Mussa Juma Assad said the aim of the MoU is to build NAOT employees’ capacity in auditing the oil and gas sector.
He said there will be an exchange programme of experts between Tanzania and the two countries in the petroleum sector.
“Our aim is to provide our staff with knowledge and capacity on dealing with this sector so as to avoid any unexpected chaos in the future. Both Norway and the Netherlands hold considerable expertise in the petroleum sector,” he stressed.
He added that the partnership is of a very high significance to his office.
Seconding Prof Assad, Norway’s Auditor General, Per-Kristian Foss said they are very honoured to partner with NAOT and the Netherlands Court of Audit (NCA) in such an endeavor.
“As the government’s watchdog, a strong and effective audit office can contribute to better oversight of the petroleum sector,” he said.
“If you want to avoid the natural resources ‘curse’, you must ensure that resources are actually used for the good of the public,” he added.
Netherlands Court of Audit Vice President, Arno Visser said the partnership of its kind between sister organizations is very important to both all parties.
“We share the vision that natural resources must benefit the people. NCA’s international policy is to contribute to the development of Supreme Audit institutions and good public financial management countrywide and to learn from international experiences,” he said.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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