Zibusiso Moyo
THE 2019 Auditor General’s report released on June 16th 2021 highlighted, among other major issues, that there was unreconciled devolution expenditures by some parastatals.
The Appropriation Account submitted for audit had expenditure amounting to $649 758 860 under Constitutional and Statutory Appropriations while the Consumed Budget as per the Public Finance Management System (PFMS) ledger revealed an amount of $649 556 860 resulting in an unexplained variance of $202 000. The accuracy of the figure reported could not be validated in the absence of a reconciliation.
This was contrary to the provisions of Section 53 of the Public Finance Management (Treasury Instructions), 2019 which requires that all payments made are appropriately authorised, all transactions are accurate and complete and there is adequate supporting documentation. Lupane residents have expressed their concerns on devolution funds and how they are being used to develop Lupane. Residents called upon the two councils; Kusile Rural District Council and Lupane Local Board to be open about devolution funds and consult citizens on projects being pursued.
Seeking to understand how devolution funds have been spent and which development projects have been done in Lupane, interviews were conducted with Lupane community members and officials from Local authorities to get their insights on the devolution funds expenditure.
Lupane residents expressed that they were not furnished with information when it came to devolution funds, they were only consulted in budgeting, and they were not being informed about how much was being budgeted for. Councils do not make it clear which projects were being financed by devolution funds and which ones were financed by council levies,
“We hear of devolution funds being disbursed but we do not get to know the amounts and the intended use for the money. In my community we have never been consulted on the projects that we wanted to be pursued as a community to address our needs, these projects are imposed on us as residents by Councils as we often wonder how they prioritise these projects. We need proper structures on how the funds are being administered, which projects are pursued with devolution funds and which ones use council levies so that there is transparency and accountability on devolution funds” said Thembelihle Mhlanga a resident of Shabula village in Lupane.
Furthermore, a member of the Lupane Residents Association Miss Nobuhle Nyathi said “We do not get information on devolution funds, Council only calls us for budget consultations on levies and rates, but not on the devolution funds. We do not input on the use of devolution funds hence there is no consensus on how the funds are to be used, however in Lupane there is need for clinics, schools and safe water sources as there are challenges in the community with regards to these.
Samantha Nyoni from Madojwa village said that as youths they were left out on development issues and this has worsened lives of struggling youths of Lupane. “As youths we do not seem to be catered for in the devolution funds as we have never had projects that speak to our needs. Furthermore, schools are still in a dilapidated state and nothing has been done. It has been 4 years that Madojwa Secondary School has been under construction, but we hear that devolution funds should address our needs. Councils just do what they think of and never get down to consult and give information on these funds”
When reached to comment on the devolution funds Mr Christopher Chuma the Chief Executive Officer for Kusile Rural District Council revealed that as Council had received devolution funds and plans for their use had been made. “We have received $149 668 540 and the direction or advise was that we consider social services as it our thrust to provide these. Hence we are directing the funds to schools, clinics and water and sanitation”
“When we get the money we meet as the WASH committee of Council and do priorities of the social services to address and these recommendations then go to the full council. It was recommended that we focus on schools and water provision because in Lupane we have a challenge when it comes to these, hence we targeted schools and water provision”
Mr Chuma highlighted that the funds take time to get to Council accounts and the time they are received they would have been hit by inflation and this slows down service delivery as most companies sell their products in US dollars and the plans for the funds are usually unmet. He further expressed that the public procurement process was time consuming, bureaucratic and counterproductive hence leading to residents not seeing service delivery in their respective communities.
He also urged residents to attend budget consultations and have their input as most times the people of Lupane do not come for these meetings. “I have attended some of the budget consultations and only a few people attend these meetings. I therefore urge residents to attend these consultations so that they have their input in development processes of Lupane”
