AG calls for penalties to curb accounting errors

The Auditor General, Obadiah Biraro, has recommended that administrative punishments be meted on public accountants who post errors in their reports. While supplementing deliberations on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) yesterday, Biraro said: “It all goes to the accounting staff; Part of the recommendations is to impose administrative penalties on accountants who miss postings, year in, year out.”Yesterday the committee quizzed budget managers of the Ministry of Trade, Commerce and Industry over findings in the Auditor General’s report for the year ending June 30, 2011.“And that is why the accounting officer, the PS, is requested to allow each and every one of these officials here to explain their roles. This is an administrative problem,” Biraro stressed. Hon. Marie Claire Ingabire noted that the persistent errors have had a negative impact on financial statements of public institutions.On his part, committee chairperson, Juvenal Nkusi, pointed out that the current audit report highlighted several cases of miss-posting errors for sums totalling over Rwf 25 million.“Where do you get courage to tell us that they will not reappear when it is the same thing you told us last time?” Nkusi asked African Gatare, the Ministry’s Director of Finance.Just like it was during last year’s appearance before PAC, Gatare again admitted the errors. Lawmakers, however, appeared bothered when Gatare, for a second time, promised that the errors would not appear in the next audit report. “Surely, the mistakes remain, but there is some improvement if you compare with the previous report. We have now taken measures such that next time, we shall have a clean audit report,” Gatare said. Almost all government departments that have appeared before the committee are affected by the issue of posting errors, apart from other concerns in their financial management systems.Both the Office of the Auditor General and lawmakers are particularly concerned with the possibility of intentional mistakes which could be aimed at embezzling funds.“We have had many meetings, with those responsible, including the Budget Officer and the Director of Finance on this issue of posting errors. Even though we note that such errors happen, we do not just accept it. And the meetings we have had were aimed at ensuring that this stops,” the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce, Emmanuel Hategeka, told MPs.Concerns over writing off fuel figures, fuel stocks not indicated in ministry’s books, and others, were also highlighted in the report.

National

AG calls for penalties to curb accounting errors