As part of efforts to improve the financial systems and procedures of Government, the Ministry of Finance today conducted an awareness session at the Ministry of Agriculture’s Headquarters (HQ) in Raiwaqa, Suva.
Director Human Resource, Finance, Information & Communication (HRFI&C), Mereseini Bou welcomed the team from the Finance Ministry on behalf of the Minister for Agriculture and the Permanent Secretary, adding that their visit could not have come at a better time.
“It has been evident over the years that the Ministry of Agriculture has been lacking in maintaining and following proper financial systems and procedures not to mention trying to address the recurring issues in past Audit Reports so we are very thankful to the team’s visit today,” she said.
Tomasi Raqina of the Finance Ministry said that on behalf of the Minister for Finance and Permanent Secretary they were thankful to the Ministry of Agriculture management for accepting them to undertake this awareness session.
The participants from Agriculture consisted not only of the accounts staff but also included staff from the Extension Division, Research, Land Resource Planning Division (LRPD), in addition to staff of the HR and Information sections.
Ministry of Finance’s Makita Tagicakibau informed participants about the Financial Management Framework whereby Permanent Secretaries have been given the responsibilities to account and report on the resources given to them in order to strengthen performances, accountabilities and transparencies of their respective agencies. This she said is supported by Section 127(3) of the Constitution.
She also outlined the objective of the Financial Management Reform which seeks to put in place a better performing budget and financial management system that provides effective control over the amount Government can spend and borrow, allows Government to better align budget resources to its priority areas and enhances accountability and transparency for the whole of Government.
Ms Tagicakibau highlighted the Finance Manual which she said is tailor made to suit the Ministry of Agriculture only as all other Ministries have their own Manuals and stressed how it was important for Agriculture officials to read and follow the Manual.
She said that Reporting from the Agriculture Ministry to Finance is to be done through the submission of Quarterly Reports as stated in the Finance Instruction’s Section 68 [1] whereby Permanent Secretaries are required to submit his/her Minister a quarterly report on the financial operations of the agency as compared to the budget and the progress of the implementation of the outputs specified in the Annual Corporate Plan.
“For PS’s to be able to meet his/her quarterly reporting requirements he/she needs to ensure that the Accounting Heads meet their reporting requirements. Within two weeks after the end of each month, Accounting Heads must provide to PS a management report on service delivery performance, financial performance, Trust Manufacturing Account (TMA) performance, Internal Controls and other significant issues for the PS’s information or decision.
“Furthermore, section 60 of the FI requires that for each month the Accounting Head must provide a signed and dated report to their PS for advise, whether all reconciliation and checks required in the agency’s Finance Manual have been carried out and the current status of any unresolved external and internal audit issues,” Ms Tagicakibau said.
Other key reporting timelines highlighted included the draft Ministry Financial Statement as per Section 70 [3] of the FI , the Annual Report as per Section 69 of the FI which is to include Financial Statement of the Ministry for that particular year, the Monthly Management Reports that is to be discussed with the National Executive Committee within the Ministry, composition of the Annual Report which must be submitted to Minister by 30 May of the following year and necessary reports of the Ministry that must be submitted to the Finance Ministry.
Mr Raqina stressed that the Finance Ministry would be available for support and to give advice to the Ministry of Agriculture officials in order to improve the finance and reporting systems.
As part of today’s session, the Agriculture’s HR Management and Training unit will begin to coordinate the HR and Finance Awareness sessions to officers at HQ and at the various divisions around the country.