Source: It’s time govt acts on AG expose’s – DailyNews Live
27 June 2017
HARARE – The Auditor-General (AG) Mildred Chiri has once again shaken the
birdcage, as she unveiled yet more reports exposing the rot in President
Robert Mugabe’s government and State-run institutions.
According to the 2016 reports, financial indiscipline – gross
misappropriation and abuse of funds – has actually escalated unabated to
unprecedented levels.
Year-in, year-out, Chiri has done a fantastic job by diligently
interrogating and spotlighting the shocking rot in government departments.
In her latest exposes, the brave AG said during the period under review,
the Defence ministry failed to account for $2 million dollars, while the
Grain Marketing Board diverted nearly $10 million meant to pay farmers for
grain deliveries to salaries and utility bills, without approval.
On State enterprises and parastatals, Chiri revealed that 15
government-run institutions – including power utility Zesa Holdings and
its subsidiaries, fixed-line operator TelOne, GMB, National Railways of
Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe National Water Authority – risk going bust, as
they have operated in the red for too long.
On Zesa for instance, she said ” . . . the company’s current liabilities
exceeded its current assets by $66,1 million as at December 31, 2015 from
$65,3 million . .
This condition indicates the existence of a material uncertainty that may
cast significant doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going
concern”.
That is worrying, particularly at a time power is critical in the revival
of Zimbabwe’s dying economy.
Chiri’s exposes do not end there. The list continues.
She also revealed a shocker that some government departments, including
the Meteorological Services Fund, advanced millions of dollars in loans to
insolvent and perennial loss-maker – Air Zimbabwe.
On the other hand, Chiri unearthed that the Minerals Marketing Corporation
of Zimbabwe paid $25 000 to a non-existent board, while she also said the
Health ministry faces legal action over $70 million debts – some dating
back to 2012 financial year – and urgently needs government’s intervention
to avoid disaster.
All these malpractices and rogue operations – at the loss of huge sums of
taxpayers’ money – are just some of many the AG seems to have tirelessly
exposed.
Chiri’s mandate is simple – to examine the management of resources within
the public sector – but requires decisive, pragmatic and tough action.
And that is where the biggest let-down is. Chiri’s reports have largely
been ignored by the authorities.
There seems to be blatant reluctance and heel-dragging by the authorities
to investigate Chiri’s leads and bring the culprits to book.
Surely, all these damning exposes cannot just be swept under the carpet,
neither should they go into the dustbin.
There is urgent need for action by the authorities.
Apart from the resources, including time, wasted on generating the
reports, millions of dollars in taxpayers’ money are being wasted. The
authorities need to be held accountable. Lack of transparency and
accountability has been the biggest weakness of the government.
Long-suffering Zimbabweans have borne the brunt of government’s
mismanagement of resources for too long.
It keeps rewarding the bosses in parastatals with hefty salaries and
allowances yet they are unproductive.
The economy is bleeding and government needs to plug all the holes, which
are being brought to the fore by the AG.
After outrage over government’s inaction over Chiri’s reports, Finance
minister Patrick Chinamasa said the handicap was that he had no staff to
comb through the voluminous documents, but was negotiating with the Civil
Service Commission to create a unit solely to sift through the reports and
take necessary action.
Really? Is that an excuse for not probing malpractices costing the State
millions of dollars?
Without belabouring the point, it is high time the authorities take action
on the AG’s reports. Otherwise, the existence of the AG’s office is a
waste of resources, which could be deployed towards meaningful and
progressive developments.
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