BUJUMBURA February 28th (ABP) – The National Assembly of Burundi met in plenary, Thursday, February 24, 2022, for a session of oral questions with debate addressed to the Minister of Interior, Community Development and Security Mr. Gervais Ndirakobuca, on the content of the accounts audit and compliance report on the activities, transactions and financial information of the Ruyigi, Mugina, Giteranyi, Gitega, Ngozi and Nyanza-Lac communes for the 2019-2020 financial year.
According to the audit report of the municipalities, the deputies raised their concern about the discrepancy between the amount entered in the management account and that of the revenue orders as well as the discrepancy between expenditure and revenue. Those representatives of the people also affirmed that the mismanagement of the funds collected in the communes is linked to the absence of competent and more efficient accountants in the handling of computer tools related to accounting and the absence of monitoring and evaluation of the proposed plan by the communal councils. Faced with this situation, the MPs of the lower house of parliament are demanding that there be a selection test for the recruitment of accountants capable of fully playing their role.
Speaking, Minister Ndirakobuca indicated that to improve performance and correct the errors observed, it is necessary to strengthen the technical capacities of the accounting service by training municipal accountants, assistant accountants and other actors involved in the management of communal finances. He added that they plan to computerize the registration of operations to facilitate control, meaning that the communal accounting software is effective for all accounting reports if the operations have been carried out regularly.
Through the structures of the ministry, in particular the general directorate of community development and decentralization and the directorate in charge of communal finances, visits to the field will be organized to provide support and advice in relation to the keeping of communal accounts, he reported.
In answering the various questions of the MPs, the Minister of the Interior, Community Development and Public Security indicated that in order to improve the financial and administrative management of the communes, certain corrective measures have been taken, including the suspension municipal accountants.
As the non-application of these recommendations is largely due to the non-mastery of the administrative and financial procedures manual, Mr. Ndirakobuca promised that they will continue to support the municipalities by means of restructuring, the organization of accounting and building the capacity of communal staff responsible for accounting, including members of communal councils, on the financial and administrative management of communes.