Audit Office calls for system review at Education Ministry

Nov 15, 2013 News

A review of the education system has been recommended by the office of the Auditor General. The suggestion comes in wake of the discovery of overpayments exceeding $13 million.
According to the 2012 Auditor General Report for the period under review, a total of 13 transactions relating to pay change directives for resignations and dismissals were forwarded late to the Central Accounting Unit of the Ministry, resulting in overpaid salaries totalling $1.070 million.
The overpaid amounts have not been recovered to date and this circumstance, according to the Report, was compounded by a sum of $12.580 million which has remained outstanding from overpayments made during the years 2006 through 2011.
The unrecovered amounts as at December 31 last year totalled $13.560 million.
Nevertheless, the Audit Office has commended actions that resulted in collections of an amount totalling $2.312 million during the past year which allowed for the reduction of the previous year’s outstanding balance of $14.892 million.
The Ministry, in acknowledging the findings of the office of the Auditor General, has indicated that robust efforts are ongoing to recover the overpayments. In fact, the Ministry has highlighted its success in reducing the total sum from the previous year and has noted that efforts are continuing in this regard.
The Auditor General’s Office is however urging that the Ministry initiate a review of its system to ensure that the measures in place are updated to provide more efficient, effective and timely advice to the Central Accounting Unit.
It has also been recommended by the Audit Office that moves be made by the Ministry to locate payment vouchers in order to have them audited, in light of the fact that there is need for the entity to account for 20 outstanding payment vouchers.
The Report outlines that for the period under review, the vouchers for expenditure totalling $2.393 million were not presented for audit examination. As a result, the Report states that “it could not be determined the propriety of the payments made and whether value was received for the sums expended.”
A total of 11 payment vouchers for expenditure totally $11.511 million also remained outstanding for the year 2011, the Report added.
Further still it was outlined that a financial loss of $136,637 that was suffered by the Ministry in 1997 was still not resolved, and a decision was still pending by the Losses Board. This loss was as a result of an apparent misappropriation of funds, for which two officers were interdicted from duty. This development saw the Ministry writing the Crime Chief in 2002 enquiring about the status report on the investigation, but so far this report has not materialised, the Audit Report revealed.
On April 18, 2005, the Head of Budget Agency apprised the Finance Secretary of the situation and filed a losses report. It is the expectation of the Audit Office that the Ministry’s Head of Budget Agency aggressively follow-up with the Ministry of Finance so as to discuss the way forward with a view to ultimately bringing closure to the matter.

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Audit Office calls for system review at Education Ministry

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