Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
The latest Report of the Auditor General on the Accounts of the Republic for the financial year ended 31st December, 2013 has revealed an excess expenditure of K501, 234, 551.
This is over and above the authorized provision of K2,985,788,318.
Auditor General Anna Chifungula
Auditor General’s Office Public Relations Officer Ellen Chikale in a statement says this excess expenditure will require the passing of the Excess Expenditure Appropriation Act to normalise the situation.
The Report which was tabled in Parliament on Friday 6th February, 2015 also highlights Unaccounted for Stores as the highest irregularity amounting to 72 million kwacha followed by Unvouched Expenditure at 67 million kwacha.
Ms Chikale says the trend of Unvouched expenditure where payment vouchers are not availed for audit because they are either missing or inadequately supported is worrying, stating that this may be a means of concealing wrong doing.
Ms Chikale says the Report also includes paragraphs on the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and Grants to Local Authorities under the Ministry of Local Government and Housing which was previously produced as a separate Report.
Ms Chikale says outstanding in the CDF paragraph is the failure to undertake activities that were funded amounting to K80, 371,244.
She adds that on revenue, the Report highlights amounts totalling K7, 172,536,611 as revenue that should have been collected by revenue collecting institutions but was not collected due to various weaknesses in the collection of revenue.
The Auditor General’s Office during the year 2014, carried out one hundred and forty-three (143) audits, fifty seven (57) of which were fully resolved leaving a balance of eighty six (86) unresolved.