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Sydney Kawadza Senior Reporter
Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa has set up units within his ministry to follow up on Auditor-General Mrs Mildred Chiri’s reports to deal with ineptitude within State enterprises and local government structures.
This follows concern that there were no follow-ups on Mrs Chiri’s reports implicating public officers in corruption.
In an interview on Tuesday, Minister Chinamasa acknowledged the problem. “I think I did promise in my 2017 Budget statement that I recognise the problem. The problem has been that the Auditor-General gives out these reports and no-one reads them or acts upon them.
“I have since assured Parliament that these would be things of the past because I have set up two units under the Accountant-General’s office to follow up on these reports,” he said.
Minister Chinamasa last week told Parliament that the Public Service Commission has approved the establishment of Performance Management Units in his ministry.
These units would evaluate performance of State Enterprises as part of measures to strengthen the Public Finance Management System.
The first unit, according to Minister Chinamasa, reads and scrutinises the AG’s report. It makes follow-ups to see whether they agree with the audit report. “When an audit is conducted, it needs not be necessarily true. We can also investigate on our own and satisfy ourselves whether there have been any prejudice.
“The second unit is basically to read financial statements of parastatals and Government entities so that each year they produce annual reports, which are also scrutinised to determine the status and see whether there is need for early intervention to correct such shortcomings,” he said.
Minister Chinamasa said the Auditor-General does not engage his ministry during audits.
Online Reporter