By Ncaba Ntshakala
Auditor General Timothy Matsebula’s Financial Audit Report for the year ended March 31, 2023, has exposed a concerning trend of missing cash allocated for elderly grants.
The scathing report has revealed discrepancies in the management of public funds, raising concerns about missing cash and irregular accounting practices.
The AG’s report on the consolidated government accounts of the Kingdom of Eswatini was presented by the Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg in Parliament on Monday.
According to the report, a staggering E67 671 963.88 has gone missing since the 2010 financial year.
These funds, disbursed as cash advances to officials for distribution as elderly grants in various constituencies, were never “retired against the wage advance,” essentially unaccounted for.
The report further details how this missing cash has accumulated over the years, starting with E26 941 081.70 in the 2010 fiscal year alone.
“I reported to the Controlling Officer that there was missing cash amounting to E67 671 963.88 under the Department of Social Welfare, since the financial year 2010,” the AG stated in the report.
The report goes on to expose further irregularities. It reveals instances of “Irregularly Cancelled Unrecovered Cash Wages Advances Using Recurrent Expenditure Budget.”
These instances involve the movement of funds from legitimate budget items to the “Wages Advance Suspense Account” to cover missing cash advances related to wages.
The AG elaborates on these instances, citing specific examples of E9 200 missing from a wages advance under the Lubombo Regional Administrator’s responsibility centre which was covered by moving funds from the “Uniform Recurrent Expenditure” budget item.
It also cites the E4 500 missing from a wages advance under the Children’s Department’s responsibility center which was covered by moving funds from the “Printing Services Recurrent Expenditure” budget item.
Even more concerning, the report reveals a potential attempt to conceal these irregularities.
The AG states that in both instances, “an unrecovered cash amounting to E13 700 was fraudulently cancelled on the Wages Advance and the recurrent expenditures against the cash were retired and posted under the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office” instead of the Treasury Department, where the initial advances were issued.
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AG further raised serious concerns regarding recurring financial irregularities within the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office.
These findings highlight a persistent pattern of mismanagement and lack of accountability within public accounts, as detailed in the recent financial audit report for the year ended March 31, 2022.
The AG’s primary concern centres on outstanding cash advances that remain unaccounted for. Despite previous audit findings, the AGl stated that this issue continues to plague the government, with substantial amounts of money vanishing during the process of disbursement.
He emphasizes that these outstanding advances violate Section 11, paragraph 3.12 of the Financial Management and Accounting Procedures Manual (1993), which requires all standing cash advances to be cleared by March 31st of each year.
The report added that the failure to adhere to accounting procedures and properly retire cash advances creates a significant risk for the government.
The AG said that this could impede the recovery of public funds from implicated officials, depriving the government of revenue that could be used for critical development initiatives and basic services.
Furthermore, the missed posting of financial transactions suggests a lack of internal controls and oversight within the accounting departments responsible.
The AG has issued a strong set of recommendations to the Controlling Officer to address these irregularities which includes launching comprehensive investigations to identify the parties responsible for the missing funds and hold them accountable, and prioritise the recovery of outstanding cash advances from implicated officials.
The Controlling Officer was further advised to take immediate steps to rectify missed postings, including debiting the Cash Wages Account, crediting the Miscellaneous/Sundry Income, and reinstating the outstanding cash.
This will clear fictitious liabilities, adjust irregular expenditures and also implement the required adjustments to rectify the accounting abnormalities and bring the ledger into balance.
The Controlling Officer according to the AG acknowledged the issue and the flawed process in retiring cash imprest, resulting in accumulating funds in the suspense account.
The Controlling Officer further indicated that they have requested assistance from the Accountant General’s office to resolve the problem.
“I advised the Controlling Officer to ensure investigation and recovery of the public funds in respect of the Cash Wages Advances (standing cash advances and imprest cash) from the officers involved,” reads the report.
“I also advised the Controlling Officer to clear the liabilities by debiting the Cash Wages Account (with E9 200 under the Responsibility Centre 1204 and E4 500 under the Responsibility Centre 1301) and credit the Miscellaneous/Sundry Income under the Treasury Department; to re-instate the outstanding cash, clear the fictitious liabilities and adjust the irregular overstated recurrent expenditure. I advised the Controlling Officer to pass necessary adjustments to correct the anomaly.”
