George Guvamatanga runs the Finance Ministry as permanent secretary, and people basically think he controls every payment the government makes, like some kind of final boss. The dude went on ZFN Capital to talk about the budget and got asked straight up if he needs someone following him around, reminding him he is just a regular person, because suppliers are terrified of him.
Guvamatanga said the whole thing is a massive misunderstanding since Treasury does not actually buy stuff or pick which contractors get paid. Individual ministries handle their purchases and submit payment requests after they blow through their budgets on whatever programs they are running. He explained that trying to approve every single invoice from every district across the country would need like 200 people working nonstop.
The permanent secretary did admit he signs off on debt deals when contractors want to build something and get paid over time, but otherwise, the money leaves Treasury and goes to ministries that sometimes spend it on random things instead of what it was meant for.
Guvamatanga said the whole thing is a massive misunderstanding since Treasury does not actually buy stuff or pick which contractors get paid. Individual ministries handle their purchases and submit payment requests after they blow through their budgets on whatever programs they are running. He explained that trying to approve every single invoice from every district across the country would need like 200 people working nonstop.
The permanent secretary did admit he signs off on debt deals when contractors want to build something and get paid over time, but otherwise, the money leaves Treasury and goes to ministries that sometimes spend it on random things instead of what it was meant for.
