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Policy Speech 2000/01
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Speeches and Media Release
 Provincial Treasury, Economic Affairs, Environment & Tourism

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EASTERN CAPE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT

DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC AFFAIRS, ENVIROMENT AND TOURISM

POLICY SPEECH 2000/01

BY MEC FOR FINANCE

16 MARCH 2000



Mr Speaker
 Honourable Premier
 Members of the Executive Council
 Distinguished guests
 Ladies and Gentlemen

"The experience of the past fifty years has demonstrated that development is possible, but not inevitable".
 (Joseph Stiglitz, 19 Oct. 1998)

As we steer the ship of the state, we need not be complacent about the outcome of our endeavours. It is important that from time to time we 
should reflect on the strategies that we employ in realising our objectives of improving the lives of our people.

Our efforts during the last six years of democratic governance in our country have made it clear that it is indeed possible to turn this 
tide around and develop our province. This is signified by increasing transformation of institutions that were previously fragmented, 
emerging coherence in the arena of development planning, reconstruction of a more articulate policy regime and improved management of the 
states resources.

Our resilience in dealing with underdevelopment of this province and the pauperisation of its people by past injustices is beginning to pay 
dividends.

Today we can proudly declare that the centre is holding.

We are steadfastly on course in breaking the proverbial beast of backwardness and underdevelopment of the Eastern Cape. We will not be 
derailed in this course.

Yet, Mr. Speaker, we need not be complacent as development and the attainment of our strategic objectives is only possible, not inevitable.

Honourable Members, let me be the first in acknowledging that there continues to be threats to development in this province. Stubborn 
mismanagement, fraud, theft of state resources and systemic inefficiencies remain to haunt us. All these are but challenges that must be 
confronted for they will corrode the firm foundations we have laid thus far. We can only confront these through a multi-faceted strategic 
attack by all departments.

Our strategic intervention as the Department of Finance and Provincial Expenditure in this context and during the next financial year will 
be to ensure excellence in financial management and improving the quality of our service.

This is a two-pronged thrust that on one side focuses on the improvement of systems internally within the department and on the other 
grapple with the improvement of the regulatory services that we render towards other departments. In giving meaning to this approach, we 
will pursue our departmental priorities that are entailed in our strategic plan. In so doing, we will be making our contribution towards 
developing the province and in improving the of our people

The nature of the DFPE is that it is a regulatory and service department. Therefore, its focus on the causes of poverty becomes issues of 
systemic failure. It is in this light that we will focus on developing systemic coherence and integration that guarantees efficiency. We 
are assisted in this regard by the Public Finance Management Act, which focuses on output-based management systems and assigns 
responsibility to managers. In short it about "letting managers manage, but holding them accountable". Our department will provide robust 
leadership in the implementation of this Act. We have already set aside 12 - 14 April for a provincial workshop that will roll out the 
implementation plan for this Act across departments. This will be preceded by workshop of EXCO and Senior Management on the 29th of March, 
which will be run by National Treasury. However, some steps have already been taken in this regard.

Below is a set of steps, which the DFPE will take for achieving its strategic objective guided by the PFMA. These steps will occur within a 
budget framework of R102 Million. This amount will be utilised for the following programmes.

Programme 1: Executive Management

The objective of the Executive Management programme is to provide sound financial leadership though policy formulation, implementation and 
the provision of Treasury services to the Provincial government, which are consistent with National government macroeconomic and fiscal 
objectives.

This programme provides for the office of the MEC, the Superintendent-General and his/her office and the Deputy Permanent Secretary 
responsible for Provincial Financial Management. The Permanent Secretary and the Deputy Permanent Secretary responsible for Treasury are 
provided for under programmes 8 and 2 respectively.

Programme 1 is a small programme in terms of personnel with only 13 posts and a total budget of R4, 740,000. The costs of the MEC's office 
during 1999/2000 were borne by the Department of Economic Affairs, Environment and Tourism, but with effect from the 2000/01 financial year 
they will be met by the Department of Finance and Provincial Expenditure.

The priorities of the programme are to provide the overall financial leadership stated in the objective, which will be very important to 
ensure the effective implementation of the PFMA. This will impact on all provincial government departments and provincial government public 
entities.

The Department will ensure that its actions are consistent with provincial government objectives, such as combating crime and fraud. In 
this respect the work of the Forensic Audit and Investigation Unit will be making an important contribution.

Another significant project, which the Department will be implementing as part of the Best Practice Awards is the Finance Management Rating 
System. Details of this project are being formulated and will be introduced to departments within the next three months. Quarterly 
evaluations are to be carried out with effect from the end of September 2000 onwards.

Programme 2: Treasury

As already indicated a new programme has been formulated to cover all the functions falling under the Treasury Chief Directorate. There are 
five subprograms, which will each be headed by a director.

Each of the five subprograms will now be commented on.

Treasury Sub-Program 2.1: Budget Office

The main thrust of this directorate is to facilitate the allocation of resources through planning and managing the budgeting process. The 
budget provided for this programme is R2, 973,000 with 10 posts budgeted for.

The directorate will undertake during the coming financial year special programs that will enhance and improve our budgeting methods and 
processes. Worth mentioning among these are the following:

The new Government Financial Statistics budget format will replace the traditional White Book. Important about this format is that it gives 
more explanation to the figures and the policy objectives that are to be pursued. This will make our budget easier to understand and 
monitor for both internal and external stakeholders including the SA Reserve Bank.

A new budgeting module based on the Electronic Financial Information System will be introduced so as to assist departments in building 
their capacity and improving the quality of budgeting. In turn this system will be directly interfacing with FMS and producing user-
friendly reports to all managers.

The directorate will see to the enhancement of the co-ordination mechanism between budgeting and planning. This will be done through 
improving the linkages between the directorate and the policy-planning unit in the Office of the Premier. Better focus will also be given 
to the co-ordination of cluster work.

Participatory budgeting measures that had been initiated during the current year such as the formation of departmental and regional 
budgeting committees will be consolidated and given focus. Among other things, the Cabinet Budget Committee will visit all our regions to 
discuss, amongst other things, budget practices with regional officials.

In relation to staff in the directorate, a shift will be created away from only administering the budget to a more focused analysis of the 
budget so that a substantive feedback could be given to departments. Training measures in that regard are already being explored.

Lastly, created under this directorate is a Fiscal Policy unit. This unit will see to the statistical analysis of provincial trends in 
budgeting and any other fiscal policy related matters.

Treasury Sub-Program 2.2: Expenditure Control

This directorate Mr. Speaker has as its main responsibility the monitoring of the budget expenditure by the departments with specific 
emphasis on spending within budget limits.

Its budgetary allocation is R3, 548,000 with 23 posts budgeted for.

In executing its mandate, the directorate will:

* Ensure that administrative and financial efficiency is improved through among other measure the establishment of creditors 
reconciliation sections in departments so that double payments are prevented.

* Disseminate electronic copies of financial regulation manuals for easy access by all in government.

* A new Early Warning System format will be introduced for use by all departments. The information generated by the system will enhance the 
analysis of expenditure patterns of the departments and assist in curbing unauthorised expenditure.

* With the introduction of the PFMA, the directorate will also shoulder the responsibility of monitoring and assessing the implementation 
of the norms and standards as set out by government for provincial public entities.

Treasury Sub-programme 2.3: Capital Planning and Control

The budgetary allocation is R309, 000 that provides for the filling of only one post, namely that of the director, who will head the 
component.

This is a new programme in terms of the PFMA. At present the Treasury has been involved in formulating the terms of reference for this 
function. For this purpose we were glad to have the assistance and a consultant financed by the Canadian provincial government of British 
Columbia in terms of the twinning agreement between our two provinces.

The objective of this programme is to ensure sound capital expenditure budgets are prepared including determining the projected financial 
implications of those expenditure in future financial years.

This directorate will work closely with the Department of Public Works and the other departments, which are involved with capital works, 
such as the departments of Health and Education.

The directorate will also be entrusted with the responsibility of quantifying the backlogs of the province and analysing our expenditure 
patterns in that regard. This information will be integrated in our planning and budgeting processes. It will also guide our approach in 
lobbying national government for more infrastructure related funding.

The new director of the sub-programme, when appointed will have the task of facilitating the formulation of a new capital management system 
for the provincial government. On the basis of the recommendations of this project the staffing requirements for the Capital Planning and 
Control directorate will be formulated.

Treasury Sub-programme 2.4: Provincial Revenue Fund

The Provincial Revenue Fund sub-programme has also been formulated on the basis of the requirements of the PFMA. Its objective is to manage 
the Provincial Revenue Fund by ensuring that all revenue is paid into the Fund; establishing and maintaining appropriate and effective cash 
management and banking arrangements; investing funds temporarily not required; managing financial risks of the provincial government; and 
managing debts owed to and by government.

Not all these functions are new to the provincial government, although they have been very understaffed for some time.

A total budget allocation has been made of R1, 493,000, which will include provision for 11 posts. There are three sections in the 
subprogram dealing with cash management, risk management and debt management.

Systems in use for the management of the Provincial Revenue Fund resulting in proper cash management have been under examination during the 
current financial year. Negotiations have been held with the provincial bankers to arrange for the use of their cash management services. 
The Early Warning System, which the provincial government has been using, is being updated to reflect the requirements of the PFMA, which 
requires reporting by capital and current expenditure as well as by programme instead of, only by vote.

The function of risk management is new for the Department of Finance and Provincial Expenditure. Up to now the Department of Public Works 
has been involved in risk management in the form of the provision of security services and other aspects of the physical securing of 
assets. Generally government has a policy of self insurance, but there are many aspects of risk that are not being addressed such as the 
following:

* The payment of pensions, identifying specifically where fraud may be a problem and how best to solve it

* Personnel information used as the basis for salary payment, again identifying specifically where fraud may be a problem and proposing 
solutions

* The use of overtime from two perspectives, namely where it is being abused and where

* not using it is adding additional costs to government

* The use of duplicate insurance such as for car rentals, when government has a self insurance policy already in effect

* Government claims to third parties, determining ways to secure payment in an expedited manner

* Contract management, identifying the basis of significant and recurring financial claims against government and proposing specific 
solutions

* Interest rate risk.
It will be the role of the Department of Finance and Provincial Expenditure to address aspects of financial risk and to work with other 
departments to formulate a coherent and coordinated risk management policy for government.

The Department is in the process of acquiring a debt management system, for which tender specifications are being prepared. This system 
will be used to follow the correct procedures for the monitoring and collection of outstanding debts owed to government, which stands at 
about R48 million.

This section will also manage the repayment of debts owed by government to debtors. The amount of debt expected to be repaid during 2000/01 
is R480 million. By careful monitoring on the progress with the repayment of debts and the control of expenditure by departments it is 
hoped that this category of debt will soon be a minor issue in the financial management of the provincial fiscus.

Treasury Sub-programme 2.5: Financial Information Systems

The objective of this sub-programme is to manage and support financial information systems to all Provincial government departments. In 
particular the sub-programme is responsible for administering the Financial Management System (FMS), for providing centralised salary 
administration through the Persal system, and managing the computerised procurement administration system called Logis. These systems are 
all owned by the national Department of State Expenditure, which we manage within the province on behalf of all provincial departments.

The Department engaged consultants during 1999 to implement three modules as additional features to the Financial Management System. These 
were to provide for real-time FMS processing, a revenue and expenditure control system and a budgeting system. These enhancements are 
referred to as the Electronic Financial Information System or

e-FIS. A file server is currently being acquired and it is expected that from April 2000 it will be possible to start implementing the 
system in other departments. This will make a major improvement in the financial management of departments.

This programme has been allocated an amount of R20, 677,000 with 8 posts budgeted for. This amount includes R14, 358,000 for the cost of 
computer services consisting of the cost of processing Persal and FMS transactions and the cost of the services of external expertise to 
help with running these systems and to train the staff of the provincial government in the use of these systems. These expenses have 
previously been paid for by the Office of the Premier, but as the primary users of these systems it has been agreed that the Department of 
Finance and Provincial Expenditure will take over the payment of these expenses in the future.

A provision of R5, 000,000 has been made for the engagement of consultants for the development of financial systems. This will include the 
completion of the e-FIS and the provision of two additional financial control systems that are to be implemented during the next year. 
These will consist of a loss control system and a debt collection system. Both are currently under investigation for acquisition. The 
systems will be made available to all provincial departments.

Programme 3: State Purchases

Besides its investment in people, government spends a huge bulk of its resources on goods and services. It is therefore the key function of 
this directorate to regulate procurement practices and monitor the management and control of government assets. For this responsibility, a 
budgetary provision R4, 279,000 that include the cost of 17 posts is made.

The new procurement regime in our country necessitates that greater focus be devoted to efficient, transparent and judicious measures that 
empower those who were previously disadvantaged. For this task to be effectively executed, the directorate will ensure that capacity is 
built in the various departments. From this, it will be intended that departments adhere to tender procedures and regulations, stick to 
their delegated authority.

Working with the Provincial Tender Board, the directorate will see to it that not only procedures are adhered to, but also that the 
affirmative procurement procedures are implemented so as to address past discrepancies. As this area requires greater transparency, we are 
at an advanced stage with the investigation of the establishment of a Provincial Tender Bulletin as an information dissemination tool.

This chief directorate has been broadened into five directorates namely; budget office, expenditure control, capital planning and control, 
provincial revenue fund and financial information systems.

Programme 4: Financial Management Training

One of the central pillars of the strategic plan of the DFPE is capacity building. A pivotal element of this is financial management 
training. Currently there is a demand for this service, as mentioned above, in GFS formats, PFMA, e-FIS, GAAP, Budgeting and Planning, FMS, 
Persal and Tendering Procedures. We have started with setting up the new programme. This programmes focus is the provision of government-
wide PFMA training and financial management training in the next year. The directorate is also seized with the task of building in-house 
training capacity so that we limit governments dependence on training consultants. The private sector will be used on highly specialised 
areas with a mandatory requirement of skills transfer.

In fulfilling this task we have started setting up the directorate with a budget of R704 000 and a staff complement of six people.

To date, a first series of three courses to train trainers in all departments was completed during February and March during which 53 
prospective trainers received excellent instruction from a member of the British Columbia provincial government in Canada. This is in terms 
of the twinning relationship between our two provinces.

During March and April 2000 it is targeted to provide training to 120 managers in the provisions of the PFMA. The University of Fort Hare 
will conduct this training. It will include an introduction to Generally Accepted Accounting Practice, or GAAP, which is the basis for 
Generally Recognised Accounting Practice, or GRAP. GRAP requires the determination of accounting standards and their adoption by the 
Accounting Standards Board, which is being established by national government in terms of the PFMA.

At the same time as the managers are being trained, other financial administrators will also receive training in the PFMA.

During the 2000/01 financial year training is to be provided to 1,600 staff in the provincial government. This will include users of FMS, 
Persal and Logis, as well as training staff in tender procedures.

The University of Fort Hare, some other tertiary training establishments and private sector trainers, will do by departmental trainers as 
well as training.

Training will also be provided through the districts of the Department of Finance and Provincial Expenditure. Two training officials are to 
be appointed in each of the five district offices of the Department.

It should be remembered that ensuring that staff are properly skilled is the responsibility of Accounting Officers of departments. The 
Department of Finance and Provincial Expenditure will facilitate and assist with respect to certain aspect of training, such as by 
capacitating trainers, but it is not possible for the Department to try to provide all the financial training needed in the whole 
provincial government. This means that each department must have its own strategy for on-going financial training, while the Department of 
Finance and Provincial Expenditure will ensure that the training is coordinated.

Program 5: Financial Control

This directorate deals with the development and maintenance of the accounting system to produce ledger accounts that are reconcilable on a 
monthly basis based on Financial Regulations and Treasury Instructions.

The budget for this programme is R17, 921,000, which include provision for 57 posts.

A total provision of R9, 000,000 has been made for the use of consultants for the closing of books project and for the completion of the 
reconciliation of the Tribal Levies and Trust Accounts.

A further amount of R1, 800,000 has been provided for the engagement of consultants for establishing Debtors & Suspense Account Systems in 
terms of Generally Recognised Accounting Practices requirements. This is a requirement in terms of the PFMA and is seen as a first step in 
developing some of the systems that will be required to comply with the new Act, which will take several years to become mandatory.

The Department will be spending a lot of time and energy on the closing of books project to finalise the past years' financial statements. 
This project will take six months to undertake and will result in clear recommendations being made for what expenditure was unauthorised, 
fruitless or where fraudulent activities are suspected. In the last mentioned case legal action will be taken. Otherwise recommendations 
will be made for the Legislature to approve the writing off of untraceable balances. Financial statements will then be revised to reflect 
these adjustments and the corrected closing and opening balances will then be known to ensure that complete and accurate financial 
statements can be produced in the future.

Programme 6: Pre-Audit and Salary Administration

The objective of this programme is to provide efficient pre-audit and salary administration services to all provincial government 
departments. This is a continuation of the functions, which have been performed over the last two years.

However the first module of the Electronic Financial Information System (e-FIS) provides a real time financial management system. This 
system will enable the first few stages of the processing of payment transactions including the committing of the funds, and the production 
of the budget availability certificate to be performed within departments. This means that only the scrutinising of the documentation and 
the final approval of the transactions will need to be done by the Department of Finance and Provincial Expenditure. This represents a 
measure of decentralisation, which can commence as soon as the systems are operational and staff has been adequately trained.

Other functions to be devolved back to departments will be outlined in a document to be sent to departments in due course.

The systems must be available in districts before it can be implemented.

A budgetary provision of R16, 241,000 has been made which includes 165 staff members.

This programme is responsible for the management of the department's five district offices where staff is involved in Pre-Audit, Revenue 
Collection and support services. The cost of the district offices is R8, 616,000 and there is also a provision of R1, 012,000 for the staff 
of the Transkei Development and Reserve Fund who are based in Umtata.

Some other issues, which the programme will be dealing with, are the following:

* Many suppliers have not yet provided their banking details. It is intended to again request this information, failing which it will not 
be possible for government to deal with a supplier, which is not willing to provide these details.

* On the job training will be conducted in order to minimise the rejection of payments by Pre-Audit.

We need to mention that no supplier must render services to the government without an official government order having been issued; 
otherwise difficulties can be expected when it comes to making payment.

The Department is in the process of terminating all public servants from Persal that are above the retirement age of 65 years. This is to 
be finalised within the next financial year.

Programme 7: Provincial Revenue Collection

In the budget speech I mentioned that departments need to only plan for the expenditure of funds allocated. They should also plan to 
collect the portion of revenue assigned to them. As it is our intention to mobilise all the resources we can get in order to be in a 
position to increase our expenditure on targeted programs. An amount of R4, 201,000 has been budgeted for this programme, which includes 
funding for 30 posts.

The key activities of this directorate will therefore see to the:

* Implementation of recommendations of Deloitte and Touch study which we commissioned to advise government departments on how to maximise 
their revenue

* Monitor the implementation of the decisions taken in relation to the harmonisation of the provincial vehicle registration fees with those 
of other provinces, the collection of gambling taxes, the increase in government property rentals, and other sources we have identified.

* Lastly, the directorate will monitor that all departments and institutions do deposit funds collected on a daily basis as required by the 
Treasury Instructions.

Programme 8: Departmental Administration

This directorate focuses on operations of the Department where the Accounting Officer has prescribed regulatory responsibilities. There are 
three key performance areas of this directorate namely;

* Departmental Financial Administration
* Personnel Administration
* Auxiliary Services

A budgetary provision of R24, 727, 000 has been made for this programme including the cost of 123 posts.

8.1. Departmental Financial Administration

In this area the focus is on budgeting, execution and reporting. In terms of the Public Finance Management Act, the Accounting Officer has 
inter alia responsibilities, of relating to budgetary control and reporting.

Though the department has been able to produce the budget and the reporting exercise, it still needs capacity building for staff. In order 
to address this more effectively the organisational structure of the section is under review, especially the budget component whose 
responsibility is the production of the departmental budget that complements the provincial one.

In terms of the PFMA it is important to improve skills in this specific area. Personnel are being trained on the clearing of suspense 
account in FMS. Streamlining of accounting documentation between purchase and submission to Pre-Audit for payments is undertaken.

For the improvement of efficiency in the Department a Efficiency Services section has been created. This section will deal with 
administrative advice systems falling within the work-study function.

In addition to the above, a Special Programmes Unit is in the process of being filled. This will improve the implementation, monitoring and 
reporting on the Constitutional mandates regarding representation and transformation of the Public Service and service delivery. Primary 
target groups for this unit are youth, women and people-with-disabilities.

In order to address the labour relation issues a section has now been created and shall deal with labour relations issues and grievance 
procedures.

We shall pay close attention to improving staff performance below are some of the plans we have in this respect:

* Personnel Performance Management System:

In the course of this year we shall introduce this system, which will assist with monitoring performance and working towards higher levels 
of productivity amongst staff. We are in the process of ensuring that job descriptions conform to the new organisational structure.

* Capacity Building:

The human resource development section has been created and shall work hand in hand with the Financial Management Training Directorate. Our 
focus will be to develop on-the-job capacity building programme for departmental staff. To this end we have set aside R900, 000 for staff 
development.

* Work Ethic:

Whereas there has been overall improvement in the work culture of our department there still remains a room for improvement. This year we 
will target this area. More attention will be given to motivation, team building, performance acknowledgement and a reward system. We shall 
encourage creativity and innovation. We shall actively promote excellence amongst staff. We shall build a corporate identity of the 
department. This is the soul of our department and it must be nourished.

* Bursaries:

The department has improved greatly on the handling of bursaries over the past two years. In the past this was done in various programmes. 
They have now been consolidated in the Management Services Programme and the Departmental Bursary Policy has been put in place and is 
controlled by a Bursary Committee. In view hereof the provision of bursaries to the public and members of staff will in future be 
continued. The budgeted amount for this is R2, 400, 000. Most of these are continuations of existing commitments but some are new 
allocations.

8.2.Auxiliary services

The department would like to implement the computerised procurement administration system, LOGIS during the next year. It is already being 
implemented in several other departments under the direction of the State Purchases Directorate. This department equally needs the benefits 
which LOGIS can provide and improve our provisioning systems and control of stores and assets.

Telephone costs

The departmental telephone expense of R1, 200,000 has been provided for, but this assumes that full recovery of the costs of telephone 
services used by other departments based in Bisho are being recovered. This is done against a history of telephone mismanagement of the 
former Ciskei Government where all the departments telephone bills from the PABX system in Bisho were paid for by the Department of 
Finance. We have now taken steps to change that legacy by informing all departments to provide for their telephone costs made through our 
PABX system. I must pleased to mention the fact that the PABX system is being maintained by the Department of Finance and Provincial 
Expenditure and it is this system which also bills all the departments presently.

As a cost cutting exercise, we have disconnected the switchboard in Zwelitsha Zone 6 and operators are redeployed to the Bisho Main 
Switchboard.

The last problem my department is experiencing is lack of office accommodation and storage of old records including those removed from 
Umtata Bunga Building which was being prepared for the Madiba Museum (Former President Mandela). I therefore would like my colleague in the 
department of public works to give this state of affairs a sympathetic ear.

Programme 9: Treasury Reserve

The remaining debt of R480 million, which the province is carrying forward from 1999/2000, is to be repaid during 2000/01. The verification 
of the debts is to be finalised and careful monitoring of new expenditure and payments thereof will be ensured to try to assist departments 
to avoid accumulating new debts. The Expenditure Control directorate will be involved in this monitoring function while the Provincial 
Revenue Fund directorate will be managing the funds in this programme.

An amount of R249, 000,000 has been set-aside in the Reserve Fund for the ring-fenced items for specific departmental projects. These 
amounts will be released on the submission of acceptable business plans by departments. Use of the funds will be monitored to ensure that 
the projects for which they are intended are receiving the funds in the manner stated in their business plans.

Mr Speaker, today I have told this house of our resolve as the department to ensure excellence in financial management. I have said that 
this will be achieved through the following mechanisms:

* Strategic leadership,
* Better budgeting,
* More effective control of expenditure,
* Integrated planning and budgeting for capital projects,
* Improved management of our revenue fund,
* Consolidating our information technological infrastructure,
* Strategic regulation of procurement practices and effective management of state assets,
* Targeted financial management training,
* Tightening financial control,
* Tightening control over procurement of services and payments,
* Improving collection of revenue and
* Better administration of the department itself.
Mr Speaker, I have not told you of the people behind these tools. Mr Speaker, members of this house let me take this opportunity to 
acknowledge the army of officers who have given meaning to the vision of the department, the province and the country. They are the 
brainpower house of this government. From the Cleaner to the Head of Department, these individuals have worked tirelessly to ensure the 
success of our efforts. They are an invaluable component of this process.

Today we call upon them to continue being the servants of the people. We call upon them to recommit to our strategic tasks. We call upon 
them to release them their innovative spirits and creative energies so that this workload is lighter for all of us.

I have no doubt Mr Speaker that they will heed to this call.

Finally and more importantly I wish to extend our gratitude to our international partners. British-Columbia and Sweden have been offered 
outstanding support to our government. We must also hasten to thank IDRC and SIDA for the central role they have played in ensuring that we 
exploit these partnerships. On the one hand British-Columbia assisted us in defining our structure in terms of the PFMA. This has created 
more focused directorates. Furthermore, this assistance focused on improving our human resource plan.

On the other hand Swedish support targeted improving the cash management system within the Department of Finance and also budget planning 
and control within certain regions in departments of Health and Education. In the next few months their focus will be to improve the 
establishment of the same departments in the Persal system such that its linked to the Financial Management System. In this regard teams 
have already been set-up in the aforementioned departments. This partnership has a long-term range of three years, in which there shall be 
a resident specialist in the Department of Finance. The plan is to have this person and the long-term Financial Management programme in 
place by October 2000.

Mr Speaker, we are very grateful to this support and our department will utilise these partnerships as much as possible. It is these 
endeavours that keep provide us with staying power. It is knowing that the whole world is behind us.

Therefore, Mr Speaker, we all have no option but to succeed and to do so fast.

We shall succeed.

Let me close by saying that

"if development failures in the first African state to gain independence (Ghana) were tragic, and subsequent failures contained elements of 
farce, then a 52nd failure should be seen to verge on the &#145;criminal". (Picard and Garrity, 1994)



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