HARARE — Zimbabwe’s Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has strongly criticized the Ministry of Finance for operating what amounts to a “shadow budget” through continued unauthorized use of public funds and failure to submit key accountability documents.
PAC chairperson Charlton Hwende told journalists on Monday that the Finance Ministry has repeatedly spent beyond parliamentary appropriations without seeking proper approval, while also failing to submit Treasury Minutes — official responses to parliamentary recommendations — for several years.
“Finance Ministry continues to spend way more than what Parliament appropriates without coming back to Parliament,” Hwende said. “We have not entertained any condemnation views from the ministry for quite some time, and the most worrying thing is that they have not been submitting Treasury Minutes to Parliament.”
The committee’s rebuke follows the ministry’s failure to appear before PAC on Monday as scheduled, with officials citing other commitments. The Permanent Secretary has now committed to appear next week.
Among the financial irregularities highlighted was the Treasury’s direct payment of US$450 million to service providers, bypassing established procedures that require payments to be processed through the contracting ministries and agencies.
Hwende emphasized that according to Zimbabwean law, the Finance Ministry is required to respond to recommendations made by Parliament through Treasury Minutes, a process designed to ensure transparency and accountability in public spending.
“There are a lot of issues that have been raised, and they need the accounting officer himself to be there, so that he can explain,” Hwende added. “It’s like they are running a separate budget outside Parliament.”
The parliamentary committee also raised concerns about other irregularities flagged in the Auditor General’s report, including payments to suppliers who failed to deliver goods or services, mishandled tender renewals, and unauthorized direct payments to service providers.
Treasury Minutes serve as a critical component of government accountability to Parliament, providing formal responses to committee recommendations and outlining actions taken to address identified issues.
This is not the first time Zimbabwe’s Finance Ministry has faced scrutiny over unauthorized spending. In 2019, the government introduced a Financial Adjustment Bill seeking condonation for unapproved expenditure between 2015 and 2018 totaling US$9.6 billion, but the bill lapsed in 2020 without progressing through Parliament.
The PAC intends to question the ministry’s top accounting officers directly, including the Minister of Finance, at next Monday’s session to understand the scale of financial mismanagement and discuss budget compliance measures.
Hwende noted that Parliament had not approved any supplementary budgets in recent years, yet overspending had continued, raising questions about fiscal control and oversight.
Financial management remains a critical concern for Zimbabwe, which continues to face economic challenges and is working to improve governance to attract international support and investment.
