ERB SHOULD REDUCE FUEL PRICES

A LOT of issues needing attention have arisen in the past one month or so.

Since October 10, 2014 when Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda presented the 2015 national budget to Parliament, many other issues  have arisen and, therefore, we could not do full justice to the proposed budget.

Within the proposed budget there are many contentious issues which  call for attention but the entire national document was overshadowed by the commemoration of the country's Golden Jubilee.

Presented on October 10, exactly a fortnight before the main Golden  Jubilee celebration on October 24, the proposed budget had to, obviously, be shelved as we focused our attention on the 50-year
commemorations.

Just when we thought we would return to the normal calendar, tragedy struck with the death of President Michael Sata on October 28 2014.

 Definitely, whole the attention had to be shifted to that loss and Policy Analysis had to look Mr Sata's personal economic contribution  to the nation in last week's article as a tribute to him.

In the coming weeks, God permitting, we will focus on some of the remnant issues from the year while also glancing at the 2015 national budget.

We will tackle some of the issues which have arisen in the last one month or so and highlight the contentious provisions of the 2015 proposed national budget.

From the proposed budget we will look at issues like the much-talked about proposed tax regime for the mining sectors to try and evaluate its impact on the mining houses and the entire economy.

We will equally look at some other tax measures which have been proposed, targeting various other sectors.

There are seemingly other hot issues like the government's resolve to address the current imbalance on the annual allocation of resources which is skewed towards consumption through the public service workers emoluments.

Given the requests and queries I have been receiving from the readers on the mooted offloading of some of the government shares in ZCCM - Investment Holding to the public, we will have to revisit the issue soon.

Some readers have been asking as to how they can participate in the imminent acquisition of the shares and many other aspect of the ZCCM - Investment Holding shareholding.

 For instance, Mr John Misumbi wrote to me from the Copperbelt Province on October 29 2014 saying:

 "How does someone like me purchase or acquire shares in listed company like ZCCM-HI or any other company?"

This has to be looked at with other related issues.

The current situation following the death of Mr Sata has also raised various policy issues which need to be tackled.

At an appropriate time, we will, therefore, have to weigh up on whether there is a possibility of economic policy shift in the country and some of the pitfalls we need to avoid.

These and many other issues will definitely draw us towards the end of the year when we will have one or two articles summarising the 2014.

 Before that, however, I would like to focus on the Competition and Consumer Protection Act number 24 of 2010 and how it is being  implemented by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.

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 Still on the issue of consumer rights, the oil prices on the international market have been falling for some time now and from about US$115 per barrel in June, 2014, they are now hovering around
$81 per barrel last week.

 In some African countries, like South Africa, the reduction in the wholesale prices of oil has triggered drops in the pump prices of petroleum products, as a ripple effect.

 In Zambia, however, the Energy Regulations Board (ERB) has been quiet on the matter and yet it is supposed to ensure that Zambians also benefit from the falling prices of the essential commodity.

This has led to various alert local consumers through the Zambia Consumer Association (ZACA) to call on the Government to address the issue.

The authorities in Zambia should emulate South Africa where the petrol prices recently decreased by 45 cents a litre with diesel prices lowering by 60 cents for every litre.

This was the second reduction in the prices of these essential commodities following the first one sometime back.

Zambian fuel users need a relief considering that the prices of petroleum products in the country are said to be among the highest in the region, at K10.63 per litre for petrol, K10.01 per litre for
diesel and K7.48 per litre for kerosene.

 For comment call: 0955431442, 0977246099 or email: jmuyanwa@gmail.com.

AUDITOR GENERAL's OFFICE AT 50

AS a tribute towards Zambia's Golden Jubilee, this week I want to look  at one of the fundamental constitutional offices of the Republic - the  Auditor General's office.

 The Office of the Auditor General (OAG) has posted immense successes  during the last 50 years of Zambia's Independence amid diverse  challenges.

Dating back to pre-independence era, it has gone through major changes particularly since 2003 when its major and unprecedented restructuring drive began.

                                                                 OFFICE HOLDERS

Zambia has had only three nationals serving as Auditors General since Independence, the situation which can be attributed to the security of tenure for the office and the suitability of its holders.

Because it was difficult to find a suitably qualified auditor  immediately after Independence in 1964, a white man, Mr John Bourne, occupied the office until 1972 when the first Zambian was appointed.

According to information obtained from the OAG recently, during the British rule, the country was under the constitutional responsibility  of the Secretary of State for colonies who established the colonial audit service and appointed it's Director-General.

The colonial audit service was not part of the office of the Comptroller and Auditor-General in the United Kingdom, but an internal audit function intended to assist the Secretary of State in managing
the affairs of the colony.

After independence, the colonial audit service became the Audit Office to provide external audit for the government, and the colonial audit staff remained as civil servants in the Audit Office.

The head of the colonial audit service became the Auditor General and the Office remained a department under the Ministry of Finance.

Mr Bourne ran the office until 1971 and he was succeeded by the first Zambian, Tubbs Nundwe (late), who occupied the office from 1972 to 1992.

Not much is recorded in that 20-year period except the fact that following Independence, the nation established its own Constitution whereby the appointment of the Auditor General and the functions of
the OAG became constitutional.

In 1995, Mr Frederick Siame was appointed by the new government of President Frederick Chiluba and served up to 2002.

Dr Anna Chifungula, who currently occupies the position, was appointed as the first female Auditor General for Zambia in 2003.

                                                                 REFORMS

Dr chifungula's ascendance to the office seemingly heralded the beginning of major reforms as late President Mwanawasa kick-started his regime, was the only chartered accountant for the entire
establishment in 2003.

Interestingly, she now heads the institution with more than 200 other professionals holding that qualification or better.

A peek into her reign shows that Dr Chifungula could be ascribed as the pioneer of the reforms in the office following her appointment in July 2003.

In a document dubbed "Working life for Anna O Chifungula," the Auditor General whose public service spawned in 1975, says, when she was appointed, the office had only 96 audit staff to cater for the entire country.

"I felt as if I had been demoted coming to a place that looked more dead than alive, but [then] Secretary to Cabinet, Mr [Leslie] Mbula convinced me to give it a try," said Dr Chifungula who, prior to that served as Ministry of Finance Permanent  Secretary among other top
positions.

Dr Chifungula says she immediately embarked on the recruitment of auditors because the 96 were too few, considering that the audit reports were four years behind.

The morale among the workers was low while the institution was least funded and, therefore, she signed an agreement with the Norwegian government for financial and material assistance to the office.

                                                    SUCCESSES AND RECOGNITION

The staff requirement at the time was 214. In November 2003, 18 auditors from outside the civil service were recruited.

"In December 2003, we managed to complete and edit the 2000/2001 and 2002 reports. This involved working with a team of 20 dedicated officers, who included my current Deputy Auditor General, Mr [Ron] Mwambwa ... through the nights to produce those reports," she says.

The OAG then embarked on further recruitment and retraining of the officers with 200 new entrants reporting for work by April 1 2005.

Two Deputy Auditors General, seven directors, 11 deputy directors and nine assistant directors were also employed.

New departments were further created, thereby increasing the staff establishment to 580 and with nearly 350 auditors mostly paid by the Norwegian Government.

 "Currently because of the continued assistance from the Netherlands and Norway, we have trained and retained 200 chartered accountants, who have ACCA, CIMA or ZICA professional."

In 2008, provincial offices were built and the following year district auditors were also recruited for 36 districts.

Currently, the OAG has 460 well-qualified auditors while the new buildings are able to accommodate all staff.

In the last 10 years the office has produced all the reports on time, that is, by December 31 of each year.

Special reports such as parastatal reports, performance, information technology audits and forensic audit reports are also being produced timely.

Dr Chifungula when she was conferred with honorary doctorate degree

In terms of coverage, the audit has increased from 20 per cent in 2003 to 85 per cent in 2013.

"I was awarded a life time achievement award by ACCA in 2008 and in 2013, the Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants also bestowed such an award on me."

 For five years - from 2007 to 2012 - the office was appointed by the European Union (EU) to assist in the reconstitution of the Audit Office of Liberia.

She says that the work that has been put into the office has resulted in its recognition as it continues promoting good governance and accountability.

 For contributions call: 260 0955 431442, 0977 246099, 0964 742506 or
email: jmuyanwa@gmail.com.