The legal aspect of financial management local Authorities in Tanzania: a case study of Kisarawe district council

This study sought to find out grounds for non-adherence to financial laws and statutory instruments in LGAs in Tanzania with a view to recommending the solutions for the problems. The case study was Kisarawe District Council. Sixty respondents were purposively sampled and interviewed. Three hypotheses were designed to test on whether non-adherence to financial laws and statutory instrument in local councils is due to either lack of competent and qualified staff in the department of finance; weak supervision; or inadequate financial laws and statutory instruments to enforce compliance. Findings affirm that weak supervision and inadequate financial laws and statutory instruments contribute to non-adherence to effective financial management. The hypothesis that lack of professional bureaucrats in local government authorities contributes to persistent non-adherence to financial laws and statutory instruments in financial management was rejected by the data as it was found that 60% of the employees in the Department of Finance and Trade are Graduates. In order to redress the situation it is recommended that, first, the Local Government Finance Act should be amended to empower the CAG to surcharge those embezzling funds instead of merely reporting to other Authorities. Second, there is a need of having documentation room in all LGAs whereby all-essential statutes, Government circulars and standing orders be kept and easily accessible to councillors, council's bureaucrats and also the citizens Third, the finance committees of the councils have to be trained frequently to enable them to critically scrutinize the financial accounts before they are submitted for audit. Fourth, ordinary citizens should be educated on the importance of paying attention in what is done in the council including attending full council meetings and demanding public accountability on mismanagement of public funds.