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The Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants (ZICA), has said that the prolonged investigations of some officials at the Ministry of Finance and National Planning were posing a serious reputation risk to the country.
ZICA president, Yande Mwenye, said this was more so as senior government officials tasked with the responsibility of public finance were involved.
Addressing the nation on various issues affecting the country, Mwenye stated that the integrity and independence that the affected offices provide, needed to be restored sooner rather than later.
“As ZICA, we have continued closely following reports on this matter concerning our Members at the Ministry of Finance and National Planning and Office of the Auditor General,” she said.
Mwenye noted that this was an active matter now under law enforcement agencies, for which the Institute awaits a final verdict.
She called on the relevant authorities investigating the matters to expedite the process, because the staff being investigated had not substantively vacated their offices.
“This is creating vacancies that cannot be filled but instead have most staff holding positions in an acting capacity,” Mwenye observed.
She stressed that most of those affected could not make decisions, and that this was affecting the smooth operations of the government.
On the debt situation, Mwenye congratulated government for achieving a successful debt restructuring with the official creditors and for striking a deal with institutional and private creditors.
“However, we are concerned with reports from international media that Zambia’s official creditors including China have rejected a deal the country struck with its international bondholders,” she said.
She stated that the agreement in principle, which the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also rejected, did not comply with “Comparability of Treatment”.
“The implications are that the full conclusion of the debt restructuring process is likely to extend into 2024. This may adversely affect budget implementation and execution,” the ZICA president said.
Mwenye tasked the Ministry of Finance and National Planning to issue a comprehensive statement on the current state of the status of debt restructuring to dispel any speculation that was currently being fuelled due to the lack of information.
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