Source: Mnangagwa to step up accountability efforts – NewsDay Zimbabwe January 8, 2018
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa is today expected to meet top officials from International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), following initiatives by the international accounting body to foster a culture of transparency and accountability in the public sector.
BY FIDELITY MHLANGA
The meeting, which is being facilitated by the Public Accountants and Auditors Board (Paab), will see Mnangagwa meeting with IFAC chief executive officer, Fayezul Choudhury and chief operating officer, Alta Prinsloo.
“The chief executive officer and chief operating officer of IFAC are coming to Zimbabwe on Sunday (yesterday) with a view to support the enhancement of transparency and accountability in public sector accounting,” Paab secretary, Admire Ndurunduru said.
‘‘As part of the visit, they will meet President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Finance and Economic Development minister (Patrick Chinamasa), Auditor General (Mildred Chiri), [the] Accountant General, minister of Local Government (July Moyo) and representatives of development partners.” IFAC and other development partners are through Paab, the Finance ministry and Auditor-General supporting the adoption and implementation of a globally-recognised framework called International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS), with a view to enhance transparency and accountability in public sector spending.
The programme is set to benefit civil servants in financial-related positions.
In his 2018 budget statement, Chinamasa indicated that the government, beginning this month, was migrating from cash to accrual accounting in line with international best practice to boost transparency and accountability, as well as ensure uniformity in reporting systems.
Under the accrual accounting, for instance, sellers record a sale as revenue earned, even if the customer has not yet paid. Accrual accounting contrasts with cash accounting, which records only cash receipts and cash payments.
Chinamasa added that Treasury had developed a new chart of accounts for the government, which will embrace all economic classifications for the purposes of enhancing consolidation, preparation and presentation of timely, accurate and reliable financial and fiscal reports.
This comes as the Public Financial Management (PFM) Act of 2010 is being realigned to the Constitution to allow the PFM Act to incorporate constitutional principles relating to public finance management
systems.
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