THE financial management of each region must be able to withstand public scrutiny, Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan said, as he endorsed a possible move by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to effect greater scrutiny of regional accounts.
Minister Bulkan was among key speakers who addressed regional officials at the Tower Suites during the opening of an Action Roundtable for Regional Financial Management and Accountability held under the theme: “Improving Regional Financial Management for Sustainable Development of Strong Regions”.

The Communities Minister said it is Government’s intention to have a system of greater accountability and transparency at the level of the regions. Greater accountability would lead to better standards of living and equal access of public services. The 10 Regional Democratic Councils in the country, currently receive and administer 13.7 per cent of the total national budgetary allocation.

“With the vision for the regional sector acquiring and expending a greater proportion of the national budgetary allocation for the development of the areas under their purview, prudent financial stewardship assumes a greater importance and is critical in building a convincing case for the realisation of this vision,” Minister Bulkan noted.
He emphasised that prudent financial management is a precondition for the effective channelling of resources, and is necessary for enhancing the delivery of programmes in the areas of health, education, infrastructure, administration and in some regions agriculture.
“As the trajectory of local government continues to change, it is envisaged that at some point regional governments will exercise its fiscal autonomy of generating its own revenue through the structured sharing of royalties from its natural resources, taxes etc. as contemplated by the progressive crafters of this governance framework and as expressly prescribed by Article 76 of the Constitution,” the Communities Minister said.
In its quest to offer additional assistance to the regions, the Minister Bulkan said his ministry will continue to work with its partners at the Finance Ministry, the Audit Office and the Public Procurement Commission to strengthen the regional financial management system.
“We want to see a system that ensures the proper usage and accountability for every dollar of public money expended – a system that will hold those culpable of wrongdoing accountable. There must be value for public money expended in all of the regions.
“We want to see value for money in the hinterland regions. It is not just the implementation of programmes but fundamental is the manner in which it is done. Expenditure must be guided by ethics,” he told the regional officials.
Minister Bulkan said he is cognizant of the challenges faced within the regions as he alluded to the shortage of staff within the accounting departments who are necessary to ensure check and balances.
“We are aware that 100 out of the 250 required staffing for the accounting departments, in particular, remain vacant – an undesirable state of affair.”
Recommendations to remedy the situation, Minister Bulkan announced, were endorsed by the National Regional Development Consultative Committee (NRDCC) and a resolution was forwarded for Cabinet’s attention.
The Action Roundtable is the continuation of a discourse aimed at improving and tightening the system of regional financial management. It forms part of the Ministry of Communities’ new role in providing encouragement and guidance to regional officials that would allow for them to effectively manage and develop their respective regions.
The roundtable discussion continues today and will result in the standardisation of best practices in financial procedures and practices, the strengthening of functional relationships within and between local organs and the reinforcement of the importance of each component of the financial cycle from the issuance of the budget circular to the publication of the Treasury memorandum.