Ex-CAG sets up platform for public accountability

Dar es Salaam. The former Controller and Auditor General (CAG), Mr Ludovick Utouh, is back in the limelight after a long sabbatical, announcing yesterday the establishment of a private platform to campaign for public finance accountability in the country.

Mr Utouh, who made a name for himself as a strong-willed CAG during his eight-year tenure before his retirement on September 18, 2014, said he wanted to play his part in a new Tanzania by deploying his knowledge and wealth of experience in the area of public finance accountability outside the government.

The former CAG has teamed up with a number of retired top public servants to launch what they have dubbed Wajibu Institute of Public Accountability (WIPA) that will work to promote public accountability and good governance in the country.

The institute, which has been co-founded by Mr Utouh and former director general of the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC), Mr Yona Kilaghane, will spearhead accountability and good governance pillars by being the country’s first ever think-tank on transparency, accountability and good governance.

“Citizens speak of mounting disillusionment with government, based on their concerns about corruption, lack of responsiveness to the needs of the poor and the absence of a sense of connection with elected representatives and bureaucrats,” he said.

He said Tanzania is one of the few counties in the world that doesn’t have sufficient private oversight think-tank institutions in place aimed at balancing between advocacy and objectivity of oversight institutions within the country.

He said privately established think-tank institutions are crucial in manifesting and scrutinising the existing practices of accountability and good governance.

Some of the key activities that the entity will be working on include monitoring and popularising public accountability while aiming at developing index for all levels of government and in the long run, prepare annual accountability reports for these levels of government.

It will also be analysing and interpreting observations and recommendations made by other financial outputs as well as conduct pioneering research on accountability and subsequently publish annual accountability reports trend of the country.

The institute is expected to hold its first global accountability conference on oil and gas industry on 11th and 12th April this year, with top presenters and distinguished individuals in this sector expected to discuss issues related to accountability

He has proposed the overhaul of internal control systems of finance and formation of more private oversight institutions to curb squandering of public funds.

He also feels that there is no other option to enhance accountability among public servants besides reviewing public finance management laws.

Mr Utouh said the lesson he has drawn in his 18 years of working as an auditor and 8 years as controller and auditor general is that many of the laws used to oversee the use of public funds especially in local governments are outdated.

Fighting corruption needed a strong tone from above, he says. “That is the reason the current government led by President John Magufuli is operating the way it is because the Head of State himself has been speaking tough on accountability and corruption,” he said.

“Our financial control systems must be taken into account because some of them are not attuned to the current situation. How can you have councillors who haven’t undergone any training on the basics of financial management handling billions in budgets for municipal authorities?” he queried.

One of the laws that he says must be reviewed is the Public Procurement Act which he blamed for costing the government billions.

Mr Utouh, a distinguished auditor credited as a fearless and strong advocate of public accountability and good governance, says he now wants to dedicate his life and experience to make Tanzania a place to benchmark good governance.

He dominated newspaper headlines during the previous government while at the accounts watchdog’s helm, during which he exposed numerous cases of rottenness in the central and local government.

Past audit reports indicate that billions in public funds are lost every year due to poor management of spending in public and local institutions together with weaknesses in revenue collection and management of national accounts.

The former CAG who also led an audit into the famous escrow account scandal said the Magufuli government is implementing some of the recommendations that he proposed in his yearly reports some years ago.

Mr Utouh said Former President Jakaya Kikwete did a lot in curbing misuse in public service, giving the example of the establishment of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) and empowering the CAG’s and establishing other financial oversight bodies.