News / National
Zimbabwe's graft-buster Zacc flagged over corruption
28 Oct 2023 at 02:47hrs | Views
The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) has come under scrutiny in the latest Auditor-General report due to a lack of supporting documents for approximately US$21,000 in expenditures, raising concerns about potential corruption and governance issues within the organization.
The Auditor-General's report stated, "I was not provided with supporting documents to validate expenditure amounting to ZWL$353,472 (equivalent to US$21,078 at the interbank rate). There were no invoices and or supplier statements to support the expenditure. In addition, the commission did not avail creditor's reconciliations for the 2019 financial period."
The audit also uncovered several governance issues within Zacc, including the mismanagement of fuel records. The report noted, "The commission was not maintaining its fuel register properly. There were instances where the fuel register had incomplete details on running balances and recipient signatures. In addition, fuel receipts with a total of 43,420 liters were not recorded in the fuel register. This was contrary to the provisions of the Public Finance Management Act [Chapter 22:19] section 49."
Furthermore, the report highlighted the issue of cars that were purchased but never delivered. Zacc paid ZWL$5.7 million (US$345,918) for the acquisition of 10 motor vehicles, but only five had been delivered by December 31, 2020, with no evidence of the remaining five vehicles being delivered by the time of the audit.
Additionally, Zacc was found to be non-compliant with International Accounting Standard 21, which requires entities to translate their foreign currency balances into their functional currency using an exchange rate that accurately reflects the economic reality of the transaction. Instead, Zacc used a government-set exchange rate that did not accurately reflect the value of the Zimdollar.
In response to the audit findings, Zacc stated that they would ensure proper recording of fuel issuance in compliance with the Public Finance Management Act and that they had begun maintaining fuel records and conducting reconciliations as of the 2021 financial year.
The Auditor-General's report stated, "I was not provided with supporting documents to validate expenditure amounting to ZWL$353,472 (equivalent to US$21,078 at the interbank rate). There were no invoices and or supplier statements to support the expenditure. In addition, the commission did not avail creditor's reconciliations for the 2019 financial period."
The audit also uncovered several governance issues within Zacc, including the mismanagement of fuel records. The report noted, "The commission was not maintaining its fuel register properly. There were instances where the fuel register had incomplete details on running balances and recipient signatures. In addition, fuel receipts with a total of 43,420 liters were not recorded in the fuel register. This was contrary to the provisions of the Public Finance Management Act [Chapter 22:19] section 49."
Additionally, Zacc was found to be non-compliant with International Accounting Standard 21, which requires entities to translate their foreign currency balances into their functional currency using an exchange rate that accurately reflects the economic reality of the transaction. Instead, Zacc used a government-set exchange rate that did not accurately reflect the value of the Zimdollar.
In response to the audit findings, Zacc stated that they would ensure proper recording of fuel issuance in compliance with the Public Finance Management Act and that they had begun maintaining fuel records and conducting reconciliations as of the 2021 financial year.
Source - newsday
