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NO PUNISHMENT FOR GOVT LOOTERS

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MBABANE – Even though detected and exposed, many fraudsters are still at work in the government ministries and departments.
This worries Phestecia Nxumalo, the Auditor General (AG).


In her latest annual report, the AG said there were still factors of collusion between procurement staff and suppliers to siphon government money in many ways.
This, she said, included unrealistic tenders, inflated prices, non-delivery of goods and prepayment for goods/services. She revealed all of these concerns in the Report of the Auditor General for the financial year ended March 31, 2013.
Nxumalo said public funds were at the risk of theft if fraudsters were still at work. She said fraud and corruption were human engineered and not an act of God.


“As such, the onus rests on human-kind to resuscitate their economy by doing right and practise honesty because intrinsically they have the ability to differentiate between right and wrong, which shall benefit the nation at large,” warned the auditor general.
She said fraudsters were reported in the last financial report but nothing had been done to them. Consequently, she said, there were no measures being taken to deter other employees from committing fraud and corruption. She said unscrupulous employees continued to siphon money at the point of collection.


The AG’s report is yet to be scrutinised by the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
She said disciplinary action against unscrupulous employees was slow or not taken at all. “Worst still is that assistance from elsewhere will tend to be scarce. Furthermore, it is essential to remind oneself that there are yet future generations who have full rights to benefit from these resources,” further warned the auditor general.


“It is my wish that all of us, the whole society, come to realise the adverse impact of the malpractices imposed on the country’s economy and its inhabitants as a whole. It goes without saying that an urgent need to strictly put the situation under control is long overdue.”


She said suppliers were paid before they delivered the goods purportedly purchased from them. Nxumalo said schools continued to spend public funds without supporting documentation.
She went on to say non-reconciliation of accounts by the Ministry of Health, in particular; resulted in the duplication of payments from Phalala Fund.

 

Anti Corruption man’s undeserved E139 000


MBABANE – An officer of the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) was overpaid by E139 000 when he was on a four-year study leave.
The officer continued to draw a full salary from government.


Phestecia Nxumalo, the  Auditor General, in her annual report, said the officer’s salary should have been staggered in a way that he should have been paid full salary on his first year of study leave; 75 percent (second year); 50 percent (third year) and 25 per cent (fourth year).
Nxumalo said General Order A370 was flouted.
On July 13, 2013, the AG said she sent a communiqué to the ACC commissioner and sent a reminder on October 29, 2013. She said there was no response to her correspondences.
The ACC is yet to respond to the AG’s queries when it appears before the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC). “I confirmed the matter with great concern that indeed, the officer received full salaries, amounting to E139 301.37 for the duration of his four-year study leave as a result of non-compliance to the regulation,” reads the AG’s report.


She, however, appreciated that the controlling officer had recovered E2 018.86 from the officer.
She said the deduction of E1 009.43 per month was effected in October 2013 leaving an outstanding amount of E137 282.51 at the time of compiling the report.
Nxumalo said the recovery period was too long since it was fixed at 138 months – which is 11 years six months.


She said his last instalment would be in March 2025. The AG said the longest repayment period for normal government loans was five years but the ACC officer had been given 11 years to repay the taxpayer.
“The controlling officer did not consider the risk of failure to recover the overpayment in case of resignation, abscondment or death of the officer or any other circumstance,” she said.


“I am concerned that if the risks were to occur, government would lose a lot of money since the Retirement Funds Act of 2005 prohibits deductions of such overpayment from employees’ gratuity.”
She said both the officer and controlling officer were quite conversant with the regulations relating to study leave. She said both parties were equally responsible for this anomaly that demonstrated negligence on their part.
“This money used for paying this office could have been used for other needs,” she said.
“Moreover, it is disappointing that overpayments of this kind persist despite my numerous reports across government ministries and departments.”

 

University, college scholarship fraud


MBABANE – The Ministry of Labour and Social Security awarded scholarship loans amounting to E940 000 to public servants using the scholarship budget for unemployed school leavers.
Phestecia Nxumalo, the Auditor General (AG), in her report for the financial year ended March 31, 2013, said this act was tantamount to fraud.


“Moreover, resultant from the misappropriation of funds, the deserving citizens were deprived of the opportunity to further their studies at tertiary institutions,” reads the report.
“It is severely disturbing how individuals who were employed were awarded the pre-service scholarship without conducting any screening to ensure that they indeed qualify for it, thus this act is deemed to have been intentional to defraud the government.”


Nxumalo said the public servants were not entitled to the pre-service scholarship. It is on record that government would not offer scholarships to deserving prospective tertiary students due to financial constraints.
However, the AG revealed in her report, that there was a sum of E947 573 for students admitted at tertiary institutions which was misappropriated by the ministry. At least 31 students would have benefited from the money if each student’s tertiary expenses amounted to E30 000 per year, including allowances.


In the Ministry of Health, nine employees shared E460 828 while one employee of the Ministry of Education got E46 507 and one soldier got E2 962.
Police received E232 535 from the scholarship budget while the Ministry of Home Affairs was given E122 708, with the Ministry of Agriculture getting E82 033.“Public servants/employees’ in-service training scholarships are the responsibility of the Ministry of Public Service and are funded through the in-service training budget administered by the Ministry of Public Service. The pre-service scholarship is solely meant to cater for school leavers who have completed their education and are proceeding into tertiary education,” said the auditor general.


“The above scenario implies that there was diversion of funds as well as misappropriation of funds which is tantamount to fraud.”
The AG said the granting of scholarship loan to undeserving beneficiaries was irregular despite the fact that the money was subject to repayment by the recipients.

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