- The event is aimed at strengthening the processes for legislative budgeting and public debt management as well as other best budget practices.
- It will be held in partnership with the House Democracy Partnership through the Congressional forum’s local partner National Democratic Institute (NDI).
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The National Assembly is this week set to co-host a regional forum on Public Debt Management and Legislative Budget Best Practices in Mombasa.
The event is aimed at strengthening the processes for legislative budgeting and public debt management as well as other best budget practices.
It will be held in partnership with the House Democracy Partnership through the Congressional forum’s local partner National Democratic Institute (NDI).
The National Assembly is also a co-host to the event in-line with its long-standing tradition of collaboration with HDP and NDI on strengthening legislative mandate for effective oversight and service delivery.
The three-day forum draws participants mainly legislators, technical and resource persons from Liberia, the Gambia, Ghana, Zambia, Mozambique and Kenya and key US Congressional offices, among others and will take place in Mombasa from April 18 to April 22.
The conference will also be addressed by experts on budgetary matters notably the Director, Parliamentary Budget Office Martin Masinde, Susan Willie from the US Congressional Budget Office, Former Congressman Mike Bishop, Lee Everts from the UN Economic Commission for Africa, Geoffrey Dubrow, Sammy Obeng of the Parliamentary Network – Africa, among other distinguished experts drawn from non-state actors.
Several legislators from the Budget and Appropriations Committee and that on Public Debt and Privatization are expected to join their counterpart legislators from the African Region in a conversation aimed at sharing the best strategies on budgeting and public debt management in their respective countries.
Emerging debt concerns and vulnerabilities while balancing broad based-growth and debt accumulation including debt servicing in the context of unyielding multiple external global shocks has been a major key thematic area of policy focus especially for developing countries.
According to the programme’s focus, participants will share their country contexts and among other related challenges their countries are facing and the underlying strategies or solutions to manage such challenges; understand the budget formulation and approval process of the US Congress to enhance best practices including valuable experiences from former US Congressman Mike Bishop and Ambassador Richard Swett.
Other focus areas for discussion include the legislative budget process as a driver for effective oversight and deliberation on mechanisms that can be utilized in this cause; aligning priorities of citizens with government actions and the importance of openness and transparency in budget and public debt management; experiences of the recently developed Model Law on Public Finance Management by the South African Development Community Parliamentary Forum; the role of independent institutions in the legislative budget process and ways to develop the capacity of independent institutions in their home countries.
The participants will also go through various tools and methodologies for public debt forecasting and modelling - an emerging area that requires support to strengthen policy formulation and support effective decision-making and budget oversight by the legislatures; dynamics of public debt sustainability analysis and planning as well as processes and best practices in respect of public debt restructuring, among others.
The forum comes in the wake of calls on Parliaments and Executives to find ways of managing or overcoming the challenges of public debt situation.
This is while promoting broad-based economic growth and re-thinking revenue mobilization strategies given the negative impact of ongoing global economic crises occasioned by various factors such as the Russian-Ukraine war, risks from macro-economic challenges including increasing interest rates and subdued economic growth, attendant liquidity challenges, and other factors.
The House Democracy Partnership is a bipartisan Commission of the US House of Representatives which works with parliaments around the world to support the development of effective, independent, and responsive legislatures.
It deploys the use of peer-to-peer exchanges, training, and targeted technical assistance to enhance accountability, transparency, access to information, and legislative oversight.
HDP currently works with more than 20 legislatures worldwide. İn Kenya the Commission works with the NDI.