Government performance on CAG reports

Dar es Salaam. The Parliament has failed to oversee the implementation of several audit recommendations by the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) including strengthening human resources and payroll management to prevent the recurrence of non-existing staff famously referred to as ghost workers.

Strengthening of the human resources and payroll management has not been implemented despite being mentioned by the CAG in two consecutive reports, that of 2015/16 and that of 2016/17

In his reports, the CAG, Prof Mussa Assad, said the government failed to make periodic payroll data cleaning and ensure robust measures are undertaken to implement controls in place and sufficiently manage human resource capital.

On top of the government’s efforts to establish Human Capital Information System, which led to deletion of 61,136 employee from the Payroll, the CAG suggested that the exercise be a continuous task. Other major audit recommendations which have not yet been worked upon by the government include strengthening of the internal controls to address weaknesses in the special audits, and proper handling of the issue of outstanding commodity import support which was mentioned in both 2015/16 and 2016/17 reports. On the issue of strengthening internal controls, Prof Assad said the government failed to conduct a thorough investigation on the identified indicators of fraud at the National Identification Development Authority (Nida) and take appropriate measures against the parties involved.

However, The Citizen is of the knowledge that those implicated in the recently uncovered scam will face the full force of the law as an investigation had been launched into the role of public officials behind the scandal.

Going by the 2016/17 CAG’s report, some Sh4.5 billion is estimated to be defrauded in the National Identification Project which included; contracts for the purchase of equipment for developing National Identity Cards, identification, purchase of ICT equipment, acquisition of laborers and the costs of transporting installing equipment for registering citizens. Furthermore, the report showed that the government took no legal and disciplinary measures to all officers who were involved in misuse of public monies in association of local authorities valued at Sh523.9 million.

On the issue of outstanding commodity import support, reports put blame on Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for its decision to stop the government from taking further action on the matter, until they issued otherwise directives.

“We still insist the ministry to exert more effort in collaboration with the debt collector to enforce recovery of the outstanding amount of JPY 16.69 billion (Sh350 billion at the prevailing exchange rate) and communicate the progress reached so far for audit review,” reads a report in part. In addition to that, the report shows that ministries and departments under retention scheme failed to reimburse Sh21.04 billion, with the government linking the trend with insufficient revenue collection and hence allocation of the funds to the priority areas.

The report suggested for collection of non-tax revenue to meet the target set, this includes having budget for those (Prisons Department and Ministry of Community Development) which had zero budget and were able to collect over Sh1 billion. Additionally, the report suggested the government through ministry of Finance to fully implement legal condition and regulation concerning revenue collected by TRA on behalf of other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and then refund the same to the respective institutions.

“Failure to implement audit recommendations is a reflection of lack of seriousness and commitment for the part of the accounting officers and management of the respective MDAs,” CAG report reads in part.

As it happens, in his report, CAG warned that such attitude of not responding to the weaknesses and anomalies may lead to the recurrence of the same irregularities in subsequent financial years.

Analysts say the failure by the Parliament to oversee the implementation of CAG’s audit recommendations could be the reason that prompted Prof Assad to attribute the trend to the weaknesses of the Parliament. The Parliament usually implements CAG’s report through its PAC and Local Authority Accounts Committee (LAAC) committees.

Regulation 88 of the Public Audit Regulations, 2009 amplifies that, CAG to submit general audit reports to the President by March 31 each year which shall further be laid to the National Assembly through the appropriate Minister (the minister of Finance and Planning).

At least 35 per cent of the audit recommendations on infrastructure development were not implemented with only 29 per cent being implemented, 17 per cent under implemented and 19 per cent overtaken by events, according to 2016/17 CAG’s report.

Furthermore 25 per cent of audit recommendations audit to local government authorities (LGAs) had not been implemented, while 34 per cent reported to have been implemented, 24 per cent were under implementation and 17 per cent had been overtaken by events. In addition to that, 17.5 per cent of the audit recommendations to Central government were not implemented, while 37.5 per cent were implemented, 35.3 per cent were under implementation and 9.4 per cent were overtaken by events. Laac vice chairman Abdallah Chikota said implementation of some audit recommendations needed time. “Implementation of some audit recommendations needs time due to financial implications and the need for changes in regulations,” said Mr Chikota, who also doubles as a CCM lawmaker for Nanyamba constituency.

Laac chairman Vedasto Mwiru said the parliament was strong enough to oversee the implementation of all audit recommendations.