Lack of transparency

Independent Senator calls for accountability within ministries

Independent Senator Crystal Drakes wants the Government to guarantee more openness and accountability regarding activities, financial and non-financial, within various ministries.

Her call was made on Wednesday during the debate on the Appropriation Bill 2023 in the Upper House.

Drakes stated that despite assurances given in the Public Finance Management Act 2019, there was still a lack of transparency within ministries, with no annual reports prepared as mandated by the Act.

“The Public Finance Management Act 2019 that we passed in this very chamber, parts seven and eight begin to address some of the things that I am speaking about, but somehow we are not able to implement it,” she said.

“Section 89 of the Public Finance Management Act 2019 states ‘a minister shall, no later than three months after the end of every financial year, prepare an annual report on the non-financial performance of the public entities or commercial state-owned enterprises he is responsible for’.”

She pointed out that the Act further states that “the financial and non-financial report expected for ministries shall be included in the Estimates, and shall be submitted to the minister responsible for finance by the minister”.

“I am not sure then if I am asking for things that are fanciful, but it’s here in the Finance Management Act. What I am speaking to, I believe would bring robustness to our democracy and build institutional strength and move us away from relying on manifestos that, by default, have a political bias,” Senator Drakes said.

She insisted that tracking performance in an objective way, outside of any political leaning, was desperately needed.

Though she welcomed the introduction of civil servants in the well of Parliament during the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure debate, Drakes argued that outside of that process, average citizens were more often than not left in the dark about the advances or shortcomings of the various ministries.

“If we do not explicitly state what ministries are trying to achieve – let [us] call it key performance indicators – that is why you have a wide part of your society feeling as though their monies are spent in a black hole…,” she said.

“What I am proposing could be for the benefit of any government, because the track record would then be there. If taxpayers are unhappy with how public funds are being spent and the Government has no way in a formal process of presenting performance, then in the 21st century, the process is flawed.” (SB)