BUJUMBURA January 19th (ABP) – The Word and Actions for Awakening Consciousness and Changing Mentalities (PARCEM) organization supports the need to build the domestic capacity to finance elections.
According to the chairman of the organization, Mr. Faustin Ndikumana, the financing of the elections constitutes an expenditure of sovereignty. He deplored, however, that the ongoing process of fund-raising for the 2020 elections revealed areas of shadow that needed to be clarified.
In a context where the government has further strengthened the Burundi Revenue Authority’s (OBR) powers in the collection of tax and non-tax revenues, Mr Ndikumana indicated that the taxpayer does not yet know which institution will guarantee transparency in that process of collecting and managing those funds. The status of the account that will be opened for collection is also unknown.
“Will the account be a sub-account of the public treasury account as indicated by the principle of the one-stop accounting of the public treasury? He asked himself.
According to the PARCEM chairman, the estimated cost of the 2020 elections is not yet revealed to the taxpayer. According to him, the methods of channeling contributions, through taxes and tax revenues, the contributions of non-employees, as well as the levies on wages remain a secret. “What will be the reporting time on fundraising trends, will it be quarterly or half-yearly? He asked himself again.
The PARCEM chairman also deplored the fact that the Ministerial Ordinance related to it did not refer to any law while the Constitution states that “any act arising from the collection of public funds is within the realm of the law”. Mr Ndikumana calls on the National Commission for Social Dialogue to organize a dialogue to remove any misunderstanding around the collection and management of funds allocated to the upcoming elections.
abp ms / ynd JAN 18