Public Expenditure Tracking Survey Initiative Could Curb Funds Abuse In Healthcare Sector

THE Parliamentary portfolio committee on Health and Childcare in partnership with the Coalition to build Momentum, Power, Activism, Strategy and Solidarity in Africa (COMPASS) project are set to implement the first ever Public Expenditure Tracking Survey (PETS) for the health sector in Zimbabwe.

By Mary Mundeya

PETS are a micro level tool that tracks resource flow from central government through line ministries and intermediary administration units such as provinces, districts to the service delivery units (clinics) whose purpose is to determine the extent to which actual spending on services is consistent with intended outcomes when budgets and aid funds are allocated.

Speaking at the recently held health sector Public Expenditure Tracking Survey sensitisation and consensus building workshop  organised by the COMPASS project in partnership with the Southern African Parliamentary Support Trust (SAPST), the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD) and the Zimbabwe Community Health Intervention Research (ZiCHIRE), Director Parliament budget office, Mr Pepukai Chivore talked about  the importance of tracking public spending which through PETS will gather information beyond administrative records to understand what happens to money that would have been appropriated for service delivery.

Its important to track public spending because of the limited impact of public spending and external aid on growth and human development, bottlenecks, inefficiencies and or corruption in the transfer of Public goods and resources as well as the inappropriate allocation of resources.

“Its time for PETS to gather information beyond official data and administrative records to understand what actually happens to money that is appropriated for service delivery in the health sector which is still faced with critical shortage of specialised professionals and Health care staff, demotivated staff who go on strikes, dilapidated hospital and infrastructure, lack of essential medicines and commodities, inadequate ambulances and service vehicles, poor diet and overcrowding of patients, inadequate emergency services for delivery and underutilization of existing antenatal services,” he said.

Chairperson of the parliamentary portfolio committee on Health and Childcare, Dr Ruth Labode welcomed the PETS initiative and highlighted that it was going to strengthen their oversight role as Parliament through its rigorous review of expenditure.

“For me, the PETS is a welcome project, we are taking it as a national issue,
targeting the Ministry of Health and from there, through this rigorous review
of expenditure we are going to have our oversight role strengthened and I hope
that it will work for us like it did for countries like Uganda where we are 
taking lessons from.”

Dr Labode also appreciated the organisers of the meeting for equipping  Legislators and stakeholders under one roof  which said was a noble gesture and a way of eliminating any biases and misconceptions around the PETS initiative.

“Its important to be equipped as a group of different stakeholders like what happened here because it removes biases, ministry officials don’t feel they are being judged and parliament also as part of government, we don’t feel that CSOs are overseeing us or trying to judge us. It’s a team spirit, we are trying to resolve a national issue together,” she said.

The meeting resolved to create a task team that will take a lead in organising a multi stakeholder meeting to agree on the conceptual framework and funding modalities by March 2022 thus culminating to the implementation on the PETS initiative for the health sector.

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