Public Sector Governance and Accountability Series: Budgeting and ...

Strengthening Public Expenditure Management in Africa 399
be expected to have positive results unless the basic reforms are actually
implemented and in place.
Legal and Organizational Issues
Weaknesses in budgeting depend in large part on political factors and on the
organization of the government. Lack of coordination within the cabinet,
unclear lines of accountability, or overlaps in the distribution of responsibility
lead to inefficient budgeting and perverse outcomes. As discussed in
chapter 2, the legislative and regulatory framework for budgeting and policy
formulation should be explicitly designed for three purposes:
1. Clarifying roles and accountabilities
2. Enabling coordination and cohesion in decision making
3. Keeping political decisions at the right political level and thereby avoiding
both technical intrusions into policy choices and undue political interference
into technical programming and budget execution.
The fundamental governance principle that no moneys can be taken
from the citizens nor expended without express authorization of their
representatives implies that the locus of overall public financial accountability
resides in both the executive branch and the legislative branch of
government. The basic priorities include the following:
As the obvious first step—too often disregarded by outsiders—examine
the country’s constitution to assess whether actual PEM processes in
the concerned country deviate from it, as well as to make sure that
eventual recommendations for improvements are not inconsistent with
the constitution.
Next, ascertain the existence of an organic budget law or its equivalent—
that is, the basic legislative framework defining the budgetary rules and
the responsibilities of the executive and the legislature. The purpose is to
ensure that proposed budgetary reforms are consistent with existing law
or to flag the legal amendments they may require.
Verify that the legal framework stipulates that laws that have a fiscal
impact take effect only if the fiscal measures are authorized in the budget
or amendments.
Seek information on how expenditure policy decisions are made at the
political level (see chapter 2).