Mbabane – A government ministry is accused of excessive spending during Emaganu Ceremony at Buhleni Royal Residence in December 2022 where they are said to have purchase 120 emahiya at E819.28 each.
The ministry in question will not be named for now due to ethical reasons pending its senior officials’ expected appearance before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in Parliament to answer for the alleged spending among other financial matters.
The Independent News has it in good authority that the ministry spent about E478 955 during the cultural event and the most questionable expenditure was that of procurement of emahiya for the event.
It is alleged that the ministry procured 120 emahiya at E819.38 per unit which translates to a total of E98 325.60 from a local company. One lihiya usually costs around E70 at local fabric shops.
Other expenditures for items procured for the cultural event include roll-up banners of 24 units each which E2 696 and this sums up to E63 990. Other bigger banners were also purchased at 12 units with each at a cost of E14 175 and totalling E170 100.
The ministry allegedly further procured 215 pro-golf t-shirts where each unit cost E294 and therefore summed up to E63 210.
Some officials at the ministry who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed the alleged spending during the cultural ceremony and highlighted that it is a matter expected to be handled by the PAC.
Meanwhile, the office of the Auditor General (AG) Financial Audit Report on the Consolidated Government Accounts of the Kingdom for the financial year ended March 31, 2023 highlights that the ministry in question had unappropriated expenditure on personnel costs, and travel, transport and communications.
“I reported that there was unappropriated excess expenditure on personnel costs amounting to E63,125.93 under the responsibility centre 1406, for employees that are not in the Establishment Register, and unappropriated excess expenditure on travel, transport and communication amounting to E38,521.79 under the Cooperative Development, in the financial year ended 31st March 2023,” stated the AG.
He said Section 34(7) of the Public Finance Management Act states that any excess or any amount expended but not appropriated and which is not allowed under this section shall be treated as a loss of public moneys and dealt with in accordance with Part VII of the Act. Section 107(3)(j) under Part VIII of the Act states that a public office and public officer, or other person with responsibility for government resources commits an offence of financial misconduct if, without lawful authority under this Act or other lawful authority, that person wilfully or negligently incurs unauthorised expenditures or makes unauthorised commitments.
“I warned the Controlling Officer, being the Principal Secretary (PS) that any excess or any amount expended beyond the released budget, as appropriated by Parliament is not only unlawful, but also has serious effect on the fiscal budget. Unappropriated excess expenditure is not allowed by the Public Finance Management Act, and is treated as a loss of public moneys. Any unauthorised expenditure may lead to disciplinary action. Non-compliance with the laws, rules and regulations may increase the risk of incurring unlawful, wasteful and fruitless expenditure.”
According to the report, the AG advised the Controlling Officer that the Ministry ought to have sought authority before spending beyond the appropriated budget and to also put in place control measures that will prevent recurrence of the anomaly, and to ensure that no public funds are spent without seeking prior authorisation.
In response, the Controlling Officer concurred with the AG’s observation and submitted that the ministry will strength internal controls. Each Departmental Head, had been advised to properly budget for all activities to avoid the recurrence of any over expenditure. He stated that the over-expenditure on Personnel Cost under Responsibility Centre 1406 was incurred due to the payment of salaries for one officer after having the restructuring and re-designation of positions in the Intellectual Property Department, to Responsibility Centre 2301.
He said there is only one officer who was employed as a junior clerical officer and this position was not designated, hence the over-expenditure. He assured the AG that the ministry has since corrected this anomaly and it shall not be witnessed in future. He further stated that the over-expenditure on travel, transport and communications under Responsibility Centre 2001 was due to unforeseen external travel of officials.
The ministry obtained technical support from the German (DGRV) and it was then mandatory for the ministry to send officials for meetings/workshops to explore possibilities of establishing a Cooperative Bank for Eswatini. DGRV would provide funding for the meeting/workshop and the only cost to government was the transit allowances. He said the ministry strongly regretted this occurrence and shall ensure that such does not happen in future.
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