During the plenary session of December 8, 2023, the National Assembly of Burundi invited the Minister of Public Health and Fight against AIDS, Mrs Lydwine Baradahana, to answer questions from the Honorable MPs concerning the audit report issued by the Court of auditors on the ministry’s budget management capacity for the period of 2019-2020 to 2022-2023. The main objective of the session was to clarify the questions raised by the Honorable MPs and to provide detailed explanations on the results of the report.

The Court’s audit focused on assessing budgetary and accounting management conditions, as well as internal control capacity. Various aspects were taken into account, particularly the evaluation of the previous management balance sheet, the management capacity of the budget preparation process, the capacity to execute public expenditure, and the monitoring of budgetary and accounting information.
In addition, the assessment of the effectiveness of the internal control system covered aspects relating to the control environment, risk assessment and control activities, information and communication, and monitoring.

Considering the evolution of investment funds allocated to the Ministry, it can be seen that for fiscal years 2019/2020 to 2022, there has been a 121% increase due to the construction of new hospitals. However, there is a 29.3% decrease for fiscal 2022/2023, as the construction budget has been transferred to OBUHA.
With regard to the level of budget execution compared with voted appropriations, the overall budget execution rate is 87.6% in 2019/2020, 97.2% in 2020/2021 and 90.8% in 2021/2022. Although the reasons are not given, the budget execution rate for investments is low for 2019/2020 (41.5%) and 2021/2022 (69.5%).

Some activities have been undertaken in preparation of the program budget implementation by the ministry in charge of public health and the fight against AIDS.
The MPs raised questions about the current state of communal hospitals and the Ministry’s assets. The Minister indicated that, thanks to the support of the Global Fund, these assets will be inventoried using CMMS software, which will provide a clear overview of the Ministry’s assets. With regard to the shortage of medical staff and the departure of doctors abroad, the Minister stressed that appropriate solutions are being devised to resolve this issue.

After analysis of the Court of Auditors’ report by the Standing Committee on Public Accounts and Finance, Economic Affairs and Planning, it emerges that during the 2019-2020, 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 budget years, the Ministry in charge of public health and the fight against AIDS did its best in budget management. However, there are shortcomings linked to low execution rates for certain expenditures, delays in the completion of the public expenditure chain, accounting and the effectiveness of the internal control system.

Finally, the plenary recommended that the Ministry in charge of public health and the fight against AIDS adopt the recommendations made by the Court of Auditors.
Mrs. Lydwine Baradahana presented the measures undertaken by her Ministry to improve budget management and ensure efficient use of allocated resources. She stressed the importance of transparency and accountability in the management of public funds, as well as her ministry’s commitment to the implementation of the recommendations made by the Court of Auditors.

At the end of the plenary session, the Speaker of the National Assembly and the MPs, satisfied with the answers and explanations provided during her first intervention before them, strongly encouraged Minister Baradahana to pursue her efforts and continue to work for the well-being of the population with determination.