Inside Mnangagwa govt's financial rot

A new report by Zimbabwe's acting Auditor-General, Rhea Kujinga, highlights significant financial mismanagement and non-compliance within various government ministries. Seven ministries failed to respond to audit findings, and the Treasury made direct payments to suppliers, bypassing the Public Financial Management System (PFMS). This violated section 13(1) of the Public Finance Management (Treasury Instructions), 2019.

The 2023 audit report presented before Parliament revealed that 27 ministries and commissions had arrear payments totaling ZWL$2.9 trillion, US$557 million, and other foreign currencies. Additionally, unsupported expenditure by 13 ministries amounted to ZWL$967 billion and US$10 million.

The audit also flagged issues such as weak procurement systems, with missing tender documents and non-delivery of assets worth millions of dollars. The report noted that advance payments were made for goods that were never delivered, resulting in improper charges against public funds.

Other critical issues included the lack of accountability for fuel, with 173,070 liters of diesel and 2,015 liters of petrol not recorded, and 3,620 liters of diesel unaccounted for. The report underscores the need for better expenditure control and adherence to budgets to prevent the erosion of future budgets and to maintain effective government service delivery.