AG Report: Public entities faulted over contracts

Auditor General Obadiah Biraro yesterday released his audit report for government expenditure during the year that ended June 2017, a compilation of audits that covered 165 entities, comprising 139 budget agencies and projects and 26 district hospitals. The institutions covered in the current report are 18 more than those covered the previous year, according to Biraro. “Based on audits concluded, financial statements for 82 entities (50% of 165 reports) received unqualified audit opinion,” Biraro told the joint chamber of parliament. Notably, all 12 ministries audited, City of Kigali and majority of projects (50 projects) obtained unqualified audit opinions, according to the report. An unqualified opinion on financial statements means that a public entity was able to prepare complete and reliable financial statements to account for public funds received and utilized within the period under review. Among the key findings by the Auditor General, the audits identified that cases of delayed and abandoned contracts were still prevalent in public entities. A total of 109 contracts worth Rfw206bn had been delayed or abandoned. These comprise 83 delayed and abandoned contracts worth Rfw158.3bn identified during the year in review and 26 delayed and abandoned contracts worth Rfw48bn from the previous annual report that have not been finalized and are still ongoing or abandoned. The delayed and abandoned contracts mainly comprised of energy and water projects managed by Energy, Development Corporation Limited (EDCL) and WASAC – the Water and Sanitation Corporation. Other contracts with significant delays were noted for building projects belonging to Workforce Development Authority and districts. Abandoned contracts amounted to Rfw45bn and the delayed contracts amounted to Rfw210bn. Meanwhile, the Auditor General faulted Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB) for failure to do a proper follow-up in its different undertakings during the audit period which was costing both the government and workers alike. On a positive note, Biraro said that institutions like Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) and Rwanda Biomedical Centre had been working hard to fix their audit issues. By and large, the report established that most problems were prevalent in Government Business Entreprise (GBE) boards, districts, and district hospitals. The report will be reviewed by the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the feedback will be presented to both chambers of parliament for the next move. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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AG Report: Public entities faulted over contracts