Auditors are looking for documentation to justify withdrawals of Le16,543,854,665 and $663,780 USD from Hajj accounts under the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs (MSWGCA). The auditors sent a letter to the Secretary of the Hajj Committee on 14 August and 23 August 2017 requesting invoices, receipts, delivery notes, etc.
Documents were not submitted for audit inspection, which is in violation of Section 36, Subsection (1a) of the Audit Service Act, 2014.
It was recommended that the Secretary of the Hajj Committee, at the MSWGCA should submit the relevant supporting documents for audit review otherwise, the entire amounts would be disallowed and surcharged in accordance with Section 93(4) of the PFM Act, 2016.
There was no response from the Ministry to the issue of withdrawals made from the Hajj Leones and Dollar accounts. It was noted however that the Ministry submitted a letter dated October 9, that was addressed to the Secretary Hajj Committee for him to respond to the audit findings, however, the Secretary failed to submit the required documents.
Supporting documents for the utilisation of amounts collected from the registrations and renewals of community-based organisationstotalling Le211,600,000 and Le56,800,000 for 2015 and 2016 were also not submitted for audit inspection.
The Auditors recommended that all amounts collected from the registrations and renewals should be deposited into the Ministry’s bank account on a daily basis and proper documentation kept for audit purposes.
Even though the Ministry’s Deputy Secretary told the Auditors documents were available at the Ministry for the utilization of funds in question were never submitted for verification.
Bank reconciliation statements for 11 bank accounts maintained and operated by the Ministry were not signed by the preparer, nor was there any evidence of approval by a senior officer in the Ministry in 2015. It was recommended that the bank reconciliation statements should be prepared, signed and approved by a senior officer in the Ministry.
There was also no evidence that office equipment and furniture such as carpets, mattresses, fridge, executive tables and chairs worth Le62,785,000 were posted into the store ledger in 2015. These items were issued by the storekeeper but the auditors were unable to determine the name and designation of the officer to whom these items were supplied to.
The audit also discovered inadequate control over the Ministry’s assets during review of the assets management 2016, with no asset management policy that guides the acquisition, management, maintenance and disposal of assets.
Assets procured during the years under audit valued at Le165,190,000, in the course of physical verification these assets were not labelled with the Ministry’s unique identification code(s), nor were they recorded in an inventory register.
From a total of 122 motorbikes and 45 vehicles, the audit team were only provided with 54 and 34 registration cards, respectively, with the balance unaccounted for. They did not maintain logbooks for its vehicles, motorbikes and generators, which should record details of journey or works performed and the signature of the officer authorising them.
The Deputy Secretary’s response was that management has acknowledged the audit findings, and drafted an asset management policy, which is on its final stage to be approved by the authorized signatories which are the Permanent Secretary and the Minister to become an instrument.
Adding that the asset verification exercise was ongoing so as to set up a Master Asset Register capturing assets of the Ministry and coding of assets shall be implemented after the verification of assets was completed.
He went further to say that the Ministry has put measures in place to recall the unverified bikes or stringent actions meted against holders of the said bikes. Efforts had been put in place to recall the life cards of the vehicles and motorbikes for submission to the Transport Officer as soon as possible.
At the end of the audit, the draft asset policy was not submitted for verification, no evidence that the Ministry had developed an inventory register, assets had not been coded, the eleven motor bikes were not made available for verification and there was no evidence that the 17 donated bikes by UNICEF and the Chinese Government had been licensed and insured.
ZJ/28/6/18
By Zainab Iyamide Joaque
Friday June 29, 2018.
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