3b lost through financial irregularities – AG

The Office of the Auditor General has announced that about k3 billion was lost through financial irregularities by 67 out of 116 local authorities in 2020 compared to the k2 billion in 2019 representing a 39.6 percent increment.

Auditor General Dr. Dick Chellah Sichembe disclosed this during a press briefing when he announced audit findings contained in four reports that the office of the auditor general has just concluded.

The four are the Report on the Accounts of Water Supply and Sanitation Companies for the year ended 31^st December, 2020, report on the Accounts of Local Authorities for the financial year ended 31^st December, 2020, Report on Accounts of Parastatal Bodies and other Statutory Institutions for the financial year ended 31^st December, 2020 and the Report on the Utilization of Covid-19 Resources covering the period from 1^st august 2020 to 31^st October, 2021.

Dr. Sichembe says notable among the financial irregularities is failure to remit statutory obligations, failure to collect revenue and ploy premiums, illegal land allocation and misapplication of funds among others.

He says the report on the accounts of water supply and sanitation companies revealed weaknesses in corporate governance, lack of audited financial statements, weakness in billing systems, delayed completion of water supply system projects and poor maintenance of water supply infrastructure.

Dr. Sichembe further says the report on accounts of parastatal bodies and other statutory institutions also showed weakness in corporate governance and IDC investments, failure to follow procurement procedures and collection of funds and wasteful expenditure.

He adds that the report on the utilization of covid-19 resources cited DMMU, Ministries of Health, Tourism and Art, and Youth Sport and Child Development as having engaged in poor contract management and non-adherence to laid down procurement procedures.

Dr. Sichembe says the four reports have since been submitted to the president and tabled in the National Assembly as of 29^th December, 2021.