these multiple agencies created attached to the Presidency which overlap the actions of public institutions and are improvised in the country’s budget – Congo Indépendant

2023-07-26 21:36:31

Monday, July 24, 2023

Policy

Since his accession to the supreme magistracy, the Congolese Head of State Félix Tshisekedi has continued to create governmental structures and agencies attached to the Presidency of the Republic. While the country was in the midst of a health crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic, in March 2020, Félix Tshisekedi had created by presidential order, three agencies attached to the Presidency: the Agency for the Prevention and Fight against Corruption (APLC), the Presidential Council for Strategic Awareness (CPVS) and the Congolese Agency for Ecological Transition and Sustainable Development.

He will then create the Agency for the development of digital, the Agency for the improvement of the Business Climate. And most recently, the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Office (ONPA), the National Solidarity and Humanitarian Disaster Management Fund, the Authority for the Control and Regulation of Strategic Mineral Substances Markets, the Industrial Development Corridor (DGCDI) .

Some wonder about the need for the creation of these governmental structures and agencies directly attached to the Presidency when the country is called upon to reduce the standard of living of the institutions. A string of questions arises. Do these agencies and structures accentuate the budget-hungry nature of DRC institutions? Have these new agencies been budgeted? Are they important for the country?

Confusion of mandates

For Jacques Mukena, senior researcher in governance at Ebuteli, the Congolese Institute for Research on Politics, Governance and Violence, the existence of the panoply of agencies remains very problematic for several reasons.

“First, some of these new agencies have ill-defined mandates and overlap with existing institutions, such as line ministries. For example, the Agency for the Improvement of the Business Climate seems to have emptied the National Agency for the Promotion of Investments (ANAPI) of its substance. Similarly, the Agency for the Control and Fight against Corruption encroaches on the attributions of the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF), which also depends on the Presidency of the Republic”, considers Jacques Mukena.

Moreover, the results of the latest Ebuteli governance poll revealed that most Congolese polled believe that the IGF does a better job in the fight against corruption than the APLC.

Jacques Mukena also stresses that these agencies are not subject to the same level of control, surveillance and responsibility as other ministries or institutions and deplores an excessive concentration of power attributed to the Head of State.

“Sector ministries, for example, are subject to parliamentary oversight, which allows for greater transparency and accountability. On the other hand, these new agencies are directly attached to the presidency, which creates an excessive concentration of power in the hands of the president. This can give the impression of parallel and informal government, as these agencies can act with some autonomy without being fully accountable to parliament or other independent oversight bodies,” he adds.

In the same vein, Florimond Muteba, PCA of the Public Expenditure Observatory (ODEP) considers the mandates assigned to several newly created agencies to be confusing in relation to existing state institutions.

“There are agencies that are like stand-ins for other state structures. For example, the APLC which does almost the work of the Court of Auditors and the IGF. Was it necessary to create another structure like this? You have the anti-values ​​cell that does the work of the Ministry of Justice. It is useless waste in the coffers of the State. For the National Office of Fisheries and Aquaculture, it is up to the Ministry of Fisheries to supervise fishermen and fisheries SMEs throughout all countries. We do not need such a structure. For the ecological transition, it is up to the Ministry of the Environment to take care of this question, ”said Florimond Muteba.

Accentuation of the budgetary character of the State

For Jacques Mukena, the budget-intensive nature of the creation of these new agencies is a major concern because their establishment effectively entails new costs, such as hiring staff, operating costs, salaries, etc. This represents a significant financial burden for the public treasury.

“These expenses are part of the operating costs of the presidency, which requires the allocation of considerable resources to finance their operation. It should be noted, however, that there are other agencies that benefit from external funding such as international organizations or donors. But for the others, the government must allocate considerable resources to finance their operation. This results in the diversion of funds from other priority sectors that could benefit from more investment,” he laments.

For its part, the PCA of the ODEP considers that the majority of new agencies are “unnecessarily budget-intensive”.

What about the reduction in the lifestyle of the state?

While the government asks the population to make sacrifices to face problems such as the war in the east of the country, it is paradoxical that certain institutions, including the presidency, do not adopt an approach of rationalization of expenditure .

Several reports, including those of the ODEP (Observatory of Public Expenditure), regularly highlight the budgetary overruns of the institutions, including the presidency. This is worrying, the budget overrun being a management fault.

The latest survey by the Ebuteli Institute revealed that more than 60% of the population surveyed believe that the Congolese government is not capable of lowering the standard of living of institutions.

Jordan Mayekin

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