SEVEN ministries failed to respond to audit findings while the Treasury paid suppliers in violation of proper procedures, a new report has shown, exposing financial mismanagement and non-compliance with regulations in various government ministries.
The damning 2023 audit report by Zimbabwe's acting Auditor-General Rhea Kujinga underlines the free-for-all approach in government despite claims of a tighter system by the President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration.
In the report on appropriation accounts, finance and revenue statements presented before Parliament this week, Kujinga revealed that some ministries failed to respond to audit findings, while 27 ministries and commissions had arrear payments totalling ZWL$2,9 trillion, US$557 million and other foreign currencies.
The audit also found that the Treasury made direct payments to suppliers worth ZWL$34 billion (US$277 million) without processing them through the Public Financial Management System (PFMS), violating section 13(1) of the Public Finance Management (Treasury Instructions), 2019.
"In 2023, Treasury paid directly to suppliers a total amount of ZWL$34 billion [US$277 million] on behalf of ministries. However, the payments were not processed through the PFMS to ensure accountability and accuracy of the financial statements," Kujinga said.
Kujinga said a number of ministries and commissions had not submitted their arrear payments for audit.
“27 ministries and commissions 23 in this report and four [whose audits are in progress] had arrear payments of ZWL$2,9 trillion, US$557 million, Indian rupees 733 058, Euro 80 695 and Swiss Francs 118 717. On the other hand, six ministries did not submit their arrear payments returns for audit.”
Kujinga said the accumulation of arrears, if left unattended, “erodes the budget of the subsequent year and negatively impacts government service delivery and of reputation.”
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The arrear payments as of December 31, 2023 were more than half of the 2023 National Budget of ZWL$4,4 trillion.
Kujinga said there is need to control expenditure and operate within the budgets so that at the end of the year, no payments remain outstanding as this would become a huge obligation on the fiscus.
Kujinga said 13 ministries and commissions had unsupported expenditure of ZWL$967 billion and US$10 million.
“The expenditure was in respect of investments made, procurement of motor vehicles, conference costs, goods and services and transfers to other institutions.
“Inadequate supporting documents for expenditure undermined the reliability of the financial records as confirmation of the amounts paid, ownership and quantity of goods received could not be verified with certainty.”
The auditor also flagged the government’s weak procurement system in which it purchased vehicles without proper tender documents and the non-delivery of various assets worth millions of dollars.
“Government procured a number of vehicles through different suppliers. However, the tender documents, procurement contracts, invoices, payment vouchers, delivery notes and issue vouchers were in some cases not availed for audit,” Kujinga said.
“In other instances, the suppliers missed the delivery dates, breached the contracts by not delivering the agreed number of vehicles, and varied the approved model of motor vehicles.”
She said issues of ownership, purchase price, the total amount paid and the number of motor vehicles ordered and delivered could not be verified.
The auditor also noted that contract monitoring was not effectively done as provisions of the contract on non-performance by the supplier were not invoked.
Kujinga said the three buses, 60 motor vehicles, 167 laptops, and various office furniture paid for between 2020 and 2023 had not been delivered at the time of concluding this report in June 2024.
“Advance payments of ZWL$1,7 billion and US$2,3 million were made in procurement of these goods. Therefore, expenditure was incurred on goods and services not delivered, resulting in a proper charge against public funds.”
She said there was a risk of excessive contract price variations if payments and deliveries were not made within the agreed contract period.
Kujinga said service delivery was also compromised as the assets are tools of trade required for the well-functioning of ministries.
Also, 173 070 litres of diesel and 2 015 litres of petrol were not recorded in the fuel registers.
In addition, 3 620 litres of diesel were not accounted for while 1 500 litres of petrol were reported to have been stolen.
Non-maintenance of up to date fuel registers could result in misappropriation of fuel, Kujinga said.
