The Office of the Auditor-General (OAG) has tabled to Parliament yet another report detailing abuse of public funds, including in the ministry of Finance in a development that clearly shows that President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government is not serious about fighting graft.
Since the era of Robert Mugabe’s regime, the OAG has religiously released reports showing leakages in government departments that often point to criminal intent.
When he succeeded Mugabe in 2017, Mnangagwa promised that his administration would not tolerate corruption and abuse of public funds, but the 2023 audit report by the OAG shows that the promises were just hot air.
In one of the biggest scandals, the report says in December 2022, the ministry of Finance ordered seven Toyota Hilux GD6 vehicles from a car dealership known as Tsapo and by May this year the vehicles had not been delivered.
According to the report, the ministry of Finance claimed that the supplier said they were “experiencing supply challenges on the production line”.
The OAG also reported that the Ministry of Home Affairs paid Faramatsi Motors for the supply of 35 cars in 2022, but had only received 11 vehicles by May this year. Officials blamed currency depreciation for the delays.
The same ministry was also found to have used US$3 165 to buy a single laptop when indications showed that the same device could have been bought for between US$807 and US$960.
It was the same pattern across most government departments, which is indicative of a deep rooted culture that will take more than rhetoric to uproot. The top civil servants that are responsible for the leakages know that there will be no consequences for their actions and they will see no reason to change their ways.
- New hope for ZEP permit holders
- Nhamoinesu re-joins Czech giants Sparta Prague as a scout
- School of sport: When defeat means victory
- Nhamoinesu re-joins Czech giants Sparta Prague as a scout
Keep Reading
It is worth noting that the revelations by the OAG came at a time when the country is still grappling with scandals that have engulfed the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) and the presidential goat scheme.
Businessmen Mike Chimombe and Moses Mpofu are in remand prison after they were arrested for allegedly defrauding the government of millions of dollars after they were awarded a contract to supply goats and never delivered.
The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission, which arrested the duo, has not shown similar appetite in investigating another scandal where Chimombe and Mpofu allegedly connived with controversial businessman Wicknell Chivayo to milk Zec of millions of dollars through a tender to supply election materials.
These scandals and the leakages in government exposed by the OAG tell us that the government is not serious when it comes to fighting corruption.
