OPEN PARLIAMENT TECHNICAL WORKING GROUP

The Open Parliament thematic area focuses on addressing the issue of opaque public debt by enabling transparent meaningful scrutiny of Loan Authorization Bills.

The commitment within this thematic area is set to address the challenges identified as follows;

a)   Lack of transparency on public debt.

b)   Limited dissemination of information on money bills between the loan negotiators (Ministry of Finance) and loan authorizers

c)    Necessity for more consistent adherence to the procedural requirements of publication notice periods and referral of the money bills within parliament’s standing orders.

Interventions identified to address the challenges are as follows;

a)   Strengthen scrutiny of the legal framework for public finance management to increase transparency on public debt to enable responsive budget and loan authorization bills.

b)  Carry out consultative meetings with relevant MDAs and the Parliamentary Committee on Budget and Finance to inform situational analysis of challenges faced and proposed solutioning to issues relating to transparency in sovereign public debt and loan authorizations.

c)   Conduct a Situational Analysis Report on public debt and loan authorization.

d)  Present situational analysis report findings and consultations with MDAs and parliamentary committee chairs to inform the process of development of templates for committee briefs

e)   Increase access to information for citizens on public debt through parliamentary committee public hearings.