THE Minister for
Finance and Planning Dr Philip Mpango has issued a 9-day ultimatum to
heads of public institutions and parastatals to give clarification on
failed financial obligations.
The entities are required to explain why they offered fewer contributions to the government, failure to contribute for social services and non-adherence to a directive that requires them to spend below 60 per cent of their gross revenues.
Dr Mpango issued the directives here yesterday when he met 236 heads of public institutions and parastatals from across the country.
The meeting was meant to discuss various issues, including a new government direction and lay emphasis on the need of strengthening sources of revenues.
"We are not satisfied with the contribution from public organisations, we still need to pull up our socks, the contribution from public organisations in the 2019/2020 was below 1 per cent, this is a very little contribution compared to the investment," he noted.
He directed the Treasury Registrar, Mr Athuman Mbuttuka to make sure a written clarification reaches him by December 31, this year.
The minister also canceled Christmas and New Year leave to all heads of organisations so that they could concentrate on preparing the needed reports.
According to Dr Mpango, Section 47 of the Finance Act, 2015 and Section 8 of the Registrar Act, subsection 370 as amended in 2015 require public organisations to contribute 15 per cent of their gross revenues to the government.
The minister said some of the organisations still contribute less while others do not contribute anything.
"Some of the organisations bring nothing, this is unacceptable because the government has invested a lot in these organisations," he charged.
He implored heads of the organisations to avoid unnecessary spending and instead focus on important issues for the benefit of the nation. He said members of the public organisations' boards should also avoid spending money on unnecessary trips.
"The government under the leadership of President John Magufuli is continuing to implement various major projects such as the Standard gauge Railway (SGR) Julius Nyerere Hydro Power project, construction of bridges, offering of free education, connecting all villages with electricity, health services and many others," he recalled.
Dr Mpango said all those projects need huge fund investment and that public organisations need to play their part by contributing part of money from their revenues.
"All organisations must come up with strategies for increasing revenues, we need money to implement development projects for Tanzanians," said Dr Mpango.
The minister applauded the Treasury Registrar for recovering government properties, which were confiscated by unfaithful officials.
He said the exercise was successful through a special team, which was formed to assess government assets across the country.
"Until June 30, this year, a total of 1,562 assets were listed in 19 region and they were under illegal ownership. The assets included 862 buildings, 559 plots, 43 farms, two companies and 96 warehouses," he revealed.
He added that the Treasury Registrar's good leadership has enabled the increase of revenues from 161bn/- in 2014/15 to 983bn/-2019/20, an equivalent to 510 per cent increase.
He ordered all public organisations to register with the Government e-Payment Gateway (GePG) system, Government Payment System (MUSE) and other government systems so as to improve efficiency and ensure proper collection of revenues.
Finance and Planning Deputy Minister, Ms Mwaidi Alis Khamis, for her side, urged heads of organisations to avoid corruption related acts and abuse of office, saying the government will not hesitate to take both legal and disciplinary measures to any official who will violate principles and regulations.
The Treasury Registrar, Mr Mbuttuka assured the minister that all directives will be implemented accordingly
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