BID TO REDUCE OUTSTANDING PAYMENTS STOCK

MBABANE – Government is putting in place a tool that will, among other things, help reduce the large stock of outstanding payments.

From the financial year 2011 the Ministry of Finance experienced a large stock of outstanding payments.  Suppliers were among those who were owed up to E2 billion. Acting Principal Secretary Thuli Gamedze said this made the ministry to realise the importance of a risk management system. She was speaking during the opening ceremony of the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Training at Royal Villas in Ezulwini yesterday. South Africa-based Logan Govender from the Commonwealth Secretariat is the facilitator and he is accompanied by Augustus Coie. Gamedze said the ministry was in the process of implementing the Public Finance Management (PFM) reforms, with the ERM being one of these improvements.

The Internal Audit Office under the ministry has therefore been tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that risk management is embedded in all government operations. “The Government of Eswatini has been challenged by various situations within its operations which put to light the lack of a risk management system. “The ministry experienced a large stock of outstanding payments, and this made us realise the importance of a risk management system,” she said. Gamedze highlighted that the above-mentioned risk could not be controlled until the stock of arrears ballooned to uncontrollable levels. It was in 2018 that the government included fiscal consolidation and arrears management as a thematic area in its strategic road map.

The internal audit office, in an effort to ensure improved fiscal discipline, conducted a verification of these arrears to ascertain governments liability and the authenticity of these arrears.
“It is worth mentioning to all of us here present that the governments philosophy is that the ERM is a shared responsibility and therefore everyone is expected to actively manage risk and cease the opportunity for the achievement of the objectives outlined in the National Development Plan (NDP), hence this five-day training on ERM,”  said Gamedze. The ministry of finance is ultimately responsible for overseeing the implementation of effective risk management across government and developing a national risk register. Therefore all ministries and departments have been urged to work with the ministry to achieve this goal.

It was further mentioned that six ministries have been identified for the pilot of the programme. They include finance, health, public works and transport, agriculture as well as economic planning and development. Coie, on the other hand, commended government’s effort on its seriousness to implement ERM. “Eswatini will be a point of reference and a shining example in Africa,” he said.

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