Mbabane – 16 government ministries and departments missed the March 27 deadline for submitting their 2025/26 annual performance reports, leaving only six of the 22 assessed entities able to file their reports on time.
The late submissions accounted for 73% of the ministries and departments assessed by the Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Unit (PPCU), according to the Government Annual Performance Report for the 2025/26 financial year.
The report shows that only 27 per cent of the entities submitted their reports within the stipulated deadline.
The Ministry of Education and Training was among those that submitted late, filing its report on April 20, almost a month after the deadline.
The Ministry of Health submitted its report on April 9, while the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office submitted on April 7.
The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security both submitted their reports on April 1.
Under the government’s performance assessment system, submission of annual reports on time accounts for five per cent of a ministry’s overall score.
Ministries that fail to meet the March 27 deadline receive zero per cent for the timeliness component.
The five percent is part of a broader assessment in which execution of planned activities carries 80 per cent and quality of execution accounts for 15 per cent.
The late reporting comes at a time when the government is assessing how far ministries have delivered on their planned activities under the Programme of Action during the 2025/26 financial year.
The PPCU uses the annual reports submitted by ministries as its primary source of information when assessing whether planned outputs were achieved.
The reports are also checked against quarterly performance reports and supporting documents, including completion certificates, financial statements, attendance registers and Cabinet minutes.
The assessment found that late and inconsistent reporting created difficulties in determining actual progress in some programmes.
In one case cited in the report, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy reported 80 per cent progress during the second quarter but later recorded cumulative progress of only 10 per cent in the third and fourth quarters.
Such inconsistencies required the assessment team to make adjustments, with some ministries receiving the benefit of the doubt where information could not be conclusively verified.
The PPCU also disclosed that it could not independently verify every reported output through site visits because of limited resources.
The government report now recommends mandatory reporting workshops for all ministries before the next financial year.
It further calls for ministries to improve the quality of their targets and ensure that planned activities are properly linked to the results reported at the end of the year.
The PPCU is also expected to reinforce compliance with reporting deadlines to allow future assessments to be completed using timely and consistent information.
The 16 late submissions therefore emerge as one of the weaknesses identified in the government’s annual performance assessment, particularly as timely reporting is intended to give the government a clearer picture of implementation before the end of the financial year.
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