Online Reporter
Farirai Machivenyika
Senior Reporter
SPEAKER of Parliament, Advocate Jacob Mudenda, has reaffirmed Parliament’s constitutional mandate to provide rigorous oversight over public finances, emphasising that legislators have both a legal and moral obligation to hold the Executive accountable for how public resources are used.
Addressing a capacity-building workshop in Bulawayo for members of the Public Accounts Committee and the Budget, Finance and Investment Promotion Committee, Adv Mudenda underlined the critical role of Parliament in safeguarding democratic accountability and ensuring that national budgets serve the interests of all citizens.
“The role of Parliament in budget oversight is not a matter of political convenience, executive benevolence or sheer happenstance,” he said.
“It is a constitutional mandate that forms the very juridical foundation of the budgetary processes.”
He said the Constitution provides unequivocal authority to Parliament to scrutinise Government expenditure, insisting that legislators are not merely permitted — but commanded — to do so in the interest of equitable development.
“In fact, the Constitution speaks with crystalline clarity,” he added.
“Section 119(3) states that ‘…all institutions and agencies of the State and Government at every level are accountable to Parliament’.
”He further noted that the Constitution enshrines key principles of public financial management which should guide parliamentary oversight and reinforce accountability in the use of public funds.
“Together, these constitutional provisions create a comprehensive legal architecture that gives select committees the moral and legal authority to question, to probe and to demand appropriate responses that engender the public trust arising from total satisfaction that the public purse passes the test of highest probity.
“Additionally, the Public Finance Management Act bolsters the above earlier quoted constitutional provisions by practically guiding select committees to exercise financial oversight soundly.”
He said the national budget is not only a financial instrument but also a strategic tool for economic management that is used to transform citizens’ aspirations into tangible development outcomes.
It also has a powerful influence on the behaviour of private-sector actors, encouraging alignment with the national development agenda, he added.
“Central to fulfilling your constitutional obligation is the ability to conduct budget analysis. “It entails looking at the spending framework from the lens of the poor, the women, the children and persons living with disabilities, with the objective of prioritising the stout revenue inflows and the public expenditure in ways that are socially equitable,” he said.
