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AG highlights Ministry of Agriculture irregularities

Dec 08, 2012 News

 

 

The Auditor General has observed in his 2011 report that the Ministry of Agriculture continues to over expend amounts voted as subvention and capital provision for the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority. According to the AG, the ministry spent a whopping $4.037B in 2011 with a further $2.809 being used for the current provision.
This action by the Ministry of Agriculture, according to the AG, has resulted in the failure to have related financial statements for the years 2005 to 2011 prepared and submitted for audit. The report explained that the NDIA is a separate legal entity which was created by Act 8 of 2004. The entity is therefore supposed to maintain its own accounts records and is subject to separate reporting and audit.
It was noted that NDIA should have been in receipt of its subventions appropriated by parliaments.
As it relates to the area of payroll, the AG has noted that the sum of $221,469 including deductions totaling $55,232 was overpaid to an officer. The sum of $33,756 was recovered however, but there was a balance of $187,713 in another instance.
Similarly, in 2010, there were another two instances where there were overpayments of salaries totaling $149,857 including deductions amounting to $52,453 to one officer.  At the time of reporting the sum of $47, 271 was recovered leaving a balance of $101, 583.
It was further noted that the Ministry again in 2009 overpaid four staffers $1.855M. The Ministry managed to clear up amounts totaling $1.013M, leaving a balance of $842,242. The Ministry in response to this aspect said that it had sent reminders to the four staffers, but the persons had not followed up on their obligations.
Moreover it was noted that ever since the introduction of the Integrated Financial Management and Accounting System, in 2004, the Ministry was urged that cash payments of salaries be minimized and that a phased approach be taken towards including all employees under the bank deposit system as stipulated by the Ministry of Finance. The Ministry is yet to observe this procedure, since there were still giving cash payments which were considerably high.
It was noted that in 2011 December, the Ministry used the prohibited method to pay 88 employees cash payments totaling $11.549M.  Another irregularity raised in the report was the fact that the Ministry spent $326.063M in fuel, but only $22.993M was represented as overpayments on four accounts. Some $52.766 was related to under payments for suppliers.

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