PAC sends Commerce PS away
By KALOBWE BWALYA
YESTERDAY the Parliamentary Accounts Committee ( PAC) sent away ministry of Commerce , Trade and Industry permanent secretary Mushuma Mulenga for failure to give an appropriate answers on various issues cited in the Auditor General’s report for the year 2020.
PAC chairperson Warren Mwambazi has since given the controlling officer seven days in which to come up with a complete report as the report presented had a lot of inconsistency.
Among the major issues that were raised in the report are over the allowances that officers claimed as far back as 2014 to 2020 including a motor vehicle which went missing after it was involved in a road accident .
However, Mr Mwambazi wondered why the controlling officer did not have enough information over issues that were cited in the AG report.
The committee later asked the controlling officer to avail the logbooks to show the usage of the vehicle and how the vehicle was repaired.
He said controlling officers should be taking up an active role in order to avoid appearing before PAC year in and year out.
According to the AG report, amounts totaling K73, 166 were paid to eight officers as refunds for using their personal money on payment of Visas and subsistence allowances for traveling abroad.
However, copies of the authority to travel abroad availed for audit were dated as far as 2014.
The committee further questioned why the claim forms were only submitted for payment in 2020 after six years of the purported travel and there was no authority from the controlling officer to authorize the use of personal funds.
And the committee further queried why a Land cruiser motor registration number GRZ 679 CE belonging to the ministry of Commerce went missing from the ministry for about two years after it was involved in a road accident.
Author
