The Deputy Prime Minister’s Office in Swaziland is in
a financial mess; money is given to those who do not deserve it and withheld
from those who do, overtime payments have been made fraudulently and rents not
collected.
The DPM Office oversees the kingdom’s national policy
that supports effect delivery of Government services, ‘through a well-coordinated
decentralized system with a special emphasis on a comprehensive social welfare
system, gender mainstreaming, children issues as well as proactive disaster
preparedness’, according to the report.
Disability
grants
The report which covers the year ending March 2017
stated there are no working guidelines on how to award disability grants yet
the DPM’s Office gave out of E12.46 million (about US$1 million) to the three
years ending March 2016.
The Auditor General reported Section 4.3 (iv) of the
National Disability Policy of 2013 required Government to develop guidelines on
how people with disabilities, who live below the poverty line, will access
funds in various development schemes, including the assessment criteria to
qualify for support from the grant. ‘Presently, eligibility assessment and
screening of disabled citizens are conducted by Social Workers,’ the report
stated.
The Auditor General reported, ‘However, without
guidelines, deserving disabled people may be omitted from the list of
beneficiaries whilst undeserving beneficiaries may receive disability grants.’
It added, ‘Guidelines should include an independent
assessment of the disabled citizens’ health condition, by a competent medical
specialist, so that only eligible persons benefit from the grant.’
The Auditor General reported E228,720 was paid to
non-deserving beneficiaries without the approval of Social Workers.
There are also weak internal controls in the management
of Welfare Grants. ‘The payment system was able to accept beneficiaries
straight from the communities without involving Social Welfare Officers, yet
the regulations require that Social Welfare Officers should authorise eligible
beneficiaries,’ the report stated.
Audit
of Payroll
The Auditor General found a number of irregularities
with salary payments. An amount of E16,507.71 was wrongfully paid as overtime
allowances to two ‘undeserving’ accounting officers who allegedly performed
overtime duties at the Trade Fair in 2014. ‘The original request did not bear
the names of the two accounting officers whilst the one attached to their
payments had their names fraudulently inserted,’ the report stated. Names were
also ‘fraudulently inserted’ in a list of payments ‘which had the endorsement
of the Principal Secretary’.
The report also stated, ‘The supervisors of the Trade
Fair duties, at the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office, were unaware about duties
that would have required accounting officers to work overtime during the course
of the Trade Fair in 2014.’
The Auditor General stated, ‘I am concerned that
Government’s control measures were intentionally flouted.’
Rent
deduction and housing allowance
It seemed some officers who lived in Government houses
did not pay rent which by regulation should be deducted from salaries. Some who
lived in private accommodation did not receive due allowances. This affected
people in a number of grades, including social welfare officer, messenger, maid
and labourer.
The Auditor General stated, ‘I raised my concern to
the Controlling Officer that rentals due to government for the housing benefit
may not have been collected, thus subjecting Government to a loss and
furthermore, that Government may have been deprived of tax revenue in respect
of the housing benefit, in cases where the officers were housed by Government.’
Massive
financial mismanagement
The financial mismanagement at the DPM’s Office are
not unique. The Auditor General reported the Swaziland Government’s bank accounts had been
miscalculated by more than
E7.5 billion (US$632.1 million).
The Auditor general
reported ‘bank balances were misstated by E7,528,772,278.72 due to
non-reconciliation between the government cash books and bank statements. Some
bank balances were overstated by E2,285,935,191.93 and other bank account
balances were understated by E5,242,837,086.79 thus reflecting an incorrect
cash flow position of the Government of Swaziland at year end.’
A string of government departments and
agencies have broken the law by spending tens of
millions of emalangeni on vehicles and transport running costs without
authority.
The Auditor General’s report shows the Prime
Minister’s Office overspent its budget by E2.3 million (or 261 percent); the
National Commissioner of Police overspent by E74.5 million (149 percent),
Correctional Services E19.6 million (199 percent), Defence E26.4 million (46
percent).
The Auditor General stated, ‘Over expenditures beyond
the budget provision and beyond amounts that have been appropriated by Parliament
are illegal and clearly violate the Appropriation Act as well as Financial and
Accounting instruction 0202 (ii).’
See also
US$632 MILLION ERROR IN GOVT ACCOUNTS
GOVT BROKE LAW ON SPENDING
GOVT MINISTRIES IN FINANCIAL MESS
http://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/govt-ministries-in-financial-mess.html
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