Projects frozen
12th April 2015
With only two months remaining before the 2015/16 fiscal year kicks off, the Local Authority Accounting Committee (LAAC) has revealed that the government has failed to implement 80 per cent of the planned projects this year.
LAAC Chairman Rajab Mbarouk said withholding of funds by the donors following the Escrow scandal and over spending of public funds by the government were the main reasons behind the failure.
Sh19.6 trillion was budgeted for 2014/15 financial year .
He cited an example of presidential visits in the first quarter alone to have cost the budget more than Sh50bn in a situation where only Sh50bn had been allocated for presidential tours throughout the year.
Member of Parliamentary Committee Economic Affairs, Trade and Industries David Kafulila ironically commended the government for going into history for failure to implement projects in such a magnitude and for spending the reserved funds for the first time without parliamentary consent.
The troubled government has conceded failure, saying it is working out plans toward less dependence on donations. “We want to make sure TRA collects tax effectively; and to start with, we shall start with physical verification of containers (at the Dar Es Salaam Port),” Finance Minister Saada Mkuya Salum said admittedly that poor tax collection and the government dependence on donor promises have hindered implementation of the projects.
“Decision by the donors to withhold funds due to escrow scandal has landed our government in a difficult situation unable to implement most of what we planned this year,” she told The Guardian on Sunday, adding “this is the major challenge we are facing as of now.”
“Their decision to suspend funds has indeed landed us into problems because most of our development projects depended much on donor funds,” she revealed.
Kafulila also pointed a finger at TRA’s failure to collect building taxes, saying to large extent it has contributed to failure of the budget.
He said statistics presented in the Parliamentary Committee Economic Affairs, Trade and Industries showed that the government collects only Sh25bn which is only 3 per cent of revenues supposed to be earned from buildings every year.
He also cited the government’s traditional practice of renting private buildings to house its offices for sky-rocketing prices amounting to Sh8.7bn for 40 offices per year as an example of financial embezzlement by the government.
Responding to allegations, Minister Mkuya said her ministry is in the final touches preparing the budget for the 2015/16 and that she will unravel priority sectors on its completion.
She, however, told The Guardian on Sunday that donors have started to release funds that were initially planned for the first quarter of the year, but insisted there was still a lot to be desired as the government was yet to be ensured release of the rest.
However, she said negotiations are underway with the donors over setting new mechanism to prevent the government from falling under the situation where it becomes helpless when donors withhold funds.
“We are talking to donors to put strategies in place to prevent them from withholding funds in case of other escrow,” she said, adding “the strategies will assure donors that the government will manage the situation and take culprits to task accordingly once such scandals like Escrow emerge.”
Parliamentarians described lack of spending discipline by the government in their April session with Pangani MP Salehe Pamba (CCM) citing the Ministry of Foreign Affair and International Cooperation to have spent over Sh155bn for official trips before April in a situation where only Sh35bn had been allocated for the same purpose throughout the year.
It was also revealed that the Ministry of Work had spent Sh998bn out of Sh445bn budget allocation, while the Ministry of Energy and Mineral had spent sh400bn from the budgeted Sh20bn.
West Arumeru MP Goodluck Ole Medeye (CCM) suggested strong measures be introduced for the government to be taken accountable in case of failing the budget.
SOURCE: GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY
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