Amerindian Purpose Fund being poorly managed – AG Report

Nov 03, 2024 News

Amerindian Purpose Fund being poorly managed

Kaieteur News- The Auditor General’s (AG) 2023 Report has pointed out that the financial affairs of the Amerindian Purpose Fund (APF) which falls under the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, continues to be managed poorly.

This comes after several requests by the Audit Office for the financial statements of the fund which were not submitted for auditing.

According to the Auditor General, the Amerindian Purpose Fund was established in the year 2000 in keeping with Section 28 of the Amerindian Act Chapter 29:01. It was revealed that this Act was later repealed by Section 84 of the Amerindian Act (2006), which had not in itself provided for the operation of the Fund.

The AG mentioned that “Section 29 of the Act required the Ministry to prepare annual Financial Statements which is to be audited by the Auditor General.”

The Audit Office stated that over the years, it was observed that significant sums of moneys were deposited into the fund and expended.

“Further, the Ministry continues to manage the financial affairs of the fund poorly. While the Ministry maintained a Cash Book to record the sum received and expended, it did not reflect the opening and closing balances,” the Report highlighted.

It is with this observation that the Audit Office recommended that the ministry ensures that the Cash Book is properly maintained and the Financial Statements for the Fund are prepared and submitted to the Audit Office, so that the Fund can be better managed and audited.

On the same subject matter, the Report documented that in 2023, the Amerindian Ministry transferred $240 million to the Fund.

“Despite several requests, the Ministry did not present Financial Statements for the year. A similar observation was made in 2022. An analysis of the Cash Book for the year 2023 revealed that amounts totalling $3.162 billion were received while amounts totaalling $1.483 billion were expended,” the AG observed.

At the time of reporting in September 2024 it was noted that the Bank Account was being reconciled.

The ministry in its response to the AG’s findings indicated that the APF reconciliation is a work in progress and that monthly reconciliation was done for 2023 and reconciliation for the years 2022, 2021 and 2020 were completed.

“The process was done from a descending approach as advised by the Accountant General and the Audit Office. The Accounts Department of Ministry had faced

several shortages of staff at the start of 2024. However, several posts were filled in July 2024, as such work has recommenced to clear the backlog,” the Amerindian Affairs Ministry explained.

The Audit Office noted however, that the ministry ensure that the reconciliation is done in a timely manner to prevent reoccurrence.

(Amerindian Purpose Fund being poorly managed)

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2023 Report, Amerindian Purpose Fund, Auditor General, financial affairs, flags, Ministry of Amerindian Affairs

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