THIS week was a big week in Zimbabwe’s 2021 national budget crafting. Parliamentary portfolio committees were taking evidence on ministry bids for the coming year. However, the biggest shock was the Treasury and Agriculture ministry officials’ snub of the august House.The National Assembly has the power of the purse according to our Constitution. Paidamoyo Muzulu It is clear that the National Assembly has power to approve the Appropriation Bills, the law that allows the government to use public money. The Constitution further empowers the House to hold to account Executive expenditure and more importantly to approve all loan agreements with foreign or domestic lenders. This is no mean feat for the people’s representatives. They have the power to approve the votes for ministries and government departments. In other words, the National Assembly has control over one of the most important development policy tools. This is a job that needs a certain level of expertise. Unfortunately, the majority of MPs do not know how to read a balance sheet or do additions of figures with nine zeroes (billions). The technocrats at the Finance and Agriculture ministries this week snubbed appearing before parliamentary committees. They chose to be somewhere else despite that laws of the land are very clear that Parliament duties take precedence over anything else. The recent snub is not an isolated incident. Finance secretary George Guvamatanga has failed to appear before the Public Accounts and Budget and Finance committees on several occasions. On the other hand, Land Agriculture and Land Resettlement committee chairperson Justice Mayor Wadyajena this week booted Agriculture ministry officials from Parliament after secretary John Bhasera did not turn up. Something interesting came out of the Budget and Finance Committee chaired by Felix Mhona. A Treasury senior official Kunaka Pfungwa admitted the ministry dipped into the unallocated reserve to meet some of its expenses. While the conduct may be lawful, it creates a loophole for abuse of public funds. Ministries and State departments can only use funds that have been properly appropriated to them. Mhona clearly read through the loophole and said that Treasury was abusing its position and more often these days robs the kitty bag (unallocated reserve) without having to appear before Parliament. The two ministries despite their central role in Zimbabwe’s economy, have chosen to keep mum about their 2020 budget performance. They have in their wisdom decided that the people’s representatives are beneath their station and therefore there is no need for them to appear before Parliament. It is worrying that Treasury as the custodians of all public finance has chosen to go rogue. In 2019, the ministry brought Finance Adjustment Bill covering the years 2015 to 2018. In that period, the ministry went ahead and spent a total US$10,2 billion without an Appropriation Act. In simple terms, Treasury breached the Constitution and lived to tell the tale without any sanction. The Financial Adjustment Bill