Local Authority Public Accounts Committee in Botswana. An appraisal

This paper discusses the Local Authority Public Accounts Committee (LAPAC) that was established in 1999 but started operational work in August 2000 and, therefore, produced its first report in March 2002. Prior to its formation, financial accountability in Local Authorities; being, district/urban councils and land boards, was neglected. Hence, even though the Local Authorities were given subventions by the central government, the money was not followed. However, this state of affairs changed with the formation of LAPAC in 1999. Ten years after its first report, the organisation still encounters varied and many problems; e.g., disregard of financial procedures, late submission of annual accounts to the Auditor General and loss of accounting documents. Even though there have been some improvements since 2002, some problems are endemic, particularly, disregard of financial procedures. Other key problems are insufficient secretarial staff at LAPAC and budget, lack of appreciation of financial accountability by many Local Authorities and lack of capacity on their part. However, given the important job that LAPAC does, it is very imperative that there be favourable conditions to facilitate its work. This is particularly important because good financial husbandry is highly sought after due to expenditure cuts that are expected in 2012.