Mbabane – An E10,000 sum spent as per diem on Members of Parliament (MPs) who were invited by the Eswatini Multi-purpose Cooperative Union (ESWAMCU) to a breakfast meeting was ruled out as a disallowable cost by auditors.
A litany of payment irregularities, including the per diem – allowances paid by an organisation for each day used – that went on for at least three years, was picked up in SNG Grant Thornton’s forensic audit as one of its recommendations prior to the changes of the board members of the embattled union of co-ops.
Other than the legislators who are based in the Manzini region’s paid-for breakfast meeting, the report stated that they were further given these allowances.
The inspection, however, passed a recommendation that the MPs were not eligible for such payments. The inspectors said legislators are paid constituency allowances from the public purse for expenses such as these.
It further highlighted that ESWAMCU did not, however, present any expense documentation of ‘the thanks’ during the forensic.
“A payment voucher (22/06/2022) amounting to E 10,000.00 was paid to Manzini Members of Parliament for attending a breakfast meeting.
“Members of Parliament are fully remunerated by the government on constituency allowances. The voucher is without proof of receipts of funds,” the report reads in part.
According to a financial expert, a per diem is paid out by an organisation to its own employees or candidates that go out of office to work in client locations onsite. The expert also said the allowances cover travelling.
“Per diem refers to a daily allowance provided to employees to cover expenses incurred while traveling for work. This allowance typically includes costs for lodging, meals, and incidental expenses,” the expert said.
The expert also said a per diem is a fixed amount, adding that receipts of such expenses must be kept safe at all times to assist in the filing of taxes and auditing purposes. The expert also said that sometimes the clients of the organisation pay the per diem.
SNG Grant Thornton also inspected the usage of ESWAMCU’s fuel voucher book, noting that there were unknown vehicles that were being fuelled at their expense during the festive season of December 2023.
The hired inspector said ESWAMCU’s trips that amounted to hundreds of thousands of monies for fuelling its vehicles were not recorded in the vehicle logbook as stipulated and mandated by the union policy.
The auditing firm said the union’s president was both the preparer and the approver of the fuel vouchers and was in possession of the logbook and ESWAMCU stamps.
“This meant that there was a lack of segregation of duties,” the report said.
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