Districts face accountability challenges

All 30 districts in the country didn’t efficiently account for the funds they used in 2006, according to the Auditor General’s report for that year. In the report which she presented to both Chambers of Parliament earlier this month, the Auditor General Evelyn Kamagaju showed that most districts’ financial statements lacked justifications and there was lack of transparency during the transition from the former local administrative territories and the new territorial setup. The report indicates that most districts presented financial reports contrary to article 70 of organic law No37/2006 of September 2006 on State finances and property. It also indicates that available financial documents do not provide adequate information about financial positions and cash flows in financial statements for 2006 and were not presented in accordance with generally accepted principles of accounting. All districts submit their financial reports to the Ministry of Finance. However, the ministry says that the report’s findings do not necessarily mean that money was misappropriated. There is a general problem on the accounting systems. It is a managerial problem which does affect the whole country in general. But we (the ministry) are trying to address it though it is not easy, John Rwangombwa, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Finance who also serves as the Secretary to the State Treasury, said Friday. He added that there has been training of accountants since 2007 when the audit was done. He however said that there was little time to complete and present all the necessary documents because the system was new to most of the accountants. Rwangombwa expressed optimisism that the next audit would find improvements in the way districts account for their finances. Most districts failed to prepare financial statements let alone provide supporting documents on the expenditures which should have been the case under public funds expenditures,says to the report. It’s a requirement for public expenditures to be supported by documents which should be sequentially filed and properly referenced, but this was not the case with districts, as per the AG’s findings. Furthermore, irregularities were reported in the process to hand over finances and other assets from former district officers to new leaders following the 2006 local administrative reform, the report said. And in some worst cases, such handover did not take place, creating the impression that taxpayers’ money ended in people’s pockets. Some of the district bank accounts standing balances could either not be traced or some account numbers had not been transferred to the new district accounts. The AG suggested that there should be concrete programmes for capacity building to ensure standard accounting procedures. The report indicates that at least Frw5.3 billion was unaccounted for during the fiscal year 2006, while the audited institutions awarded tenders worth Frw3.8 billion without the approval of the National Tender Board (NTB). It also shows that tenders valued at over Frw7.8 billion were sanctioned without proof that they were approved by internal tender committees. And in a move aimed at addressing the issues raised in the annual report, the Prosecutor General’s Office has immediately taken steps to investigate the cases. Contrary to the previous investigations where the Prosecutor General used to write to implicated parties to give explanations, this time round, the office is determined to conduct thorough investigations. The AG’s report is an eye opener or a mirror for each of us and everybody is not left out. The cases mentioned in the report will be investigated immediately and there will be no stone left unturned, Prosecutor General Martin Ngoga recently told The New Times. His office will be investigating whether the irregularities were out of administrative mistakes or outright embezzlement. Ngoga said his investigation teams would not alert any of the institutions (in writing) before hand. However we expect that each of them will be in a position to cooperate and give the required information so that all the cases can be addressed be it criminal or administrative measures, he said. Ends