THE Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare
has failed to account for or distribute goods donated by the Zimbabwe Revenue
Authority (Zimra) which are reportedly lying idle and losing value in
storerooms.
In her 2018 report, Auditor General Mrs Mildred Chiri said
the ministry had failed to account for the goods which are meant to be
distributed to vulnerable and needy individuals.
“There was poor accountability for goods donated to the
Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare by the Zimbabwe Revenue
Authority (Zimra) held at Northcort Training Institute. Items donated were
inconsistently being recorded either as bales, sacks, bags by quantities or by
weight instead of maintaining a standard unit of measurement of classification
of the goods,” said Mrs Chiri.
She said Northcort Training Institute personnel received
the donated goods without physically verifying the quantities against the Issue
Vouchers raised by Zimra.
“From interviews held with the staff, there were instances
when deliveries were made by transporters in the absence of the Ministry’s head
office administration personnel for accountability purposes as they are the
ones who would have collected the items from Zimra,” she said.
Mrs Chiri said during a physical inspection of the donated
goods, bales, sacks and bags of donated clothes and shoes were open and their
contents were scattered on the storeroom floors.
“Although the Northcort Training Institute had a stores
register in place, the register did not include vital information such as full
description of items (specifications), quantities received, quantities issued,
running balances and signature of the recipient,” she said.
Mrs Chari said four brand new and four used tyres were
issued to one of the Ministry’s administration officers without the approval of
the accounting officer. The recipient officer was the one who originated and
authorised the letter of issuance.
According to Mrs Chiri the Ministry did not have a clear
policy for management and distribution of the donations.
“At the time of the audit (March 12, 2019), I noted that
there were over 200 bales of clothes and shoes, 16 brand new tyres and 1 200
second hand tyres of different sizes that were being kept at the institute, of
which, these goods were being damaged by rodents and deteriorating in quality
due to adverse weather conditions,” she said.
Mrs Chiri said there was no evidence of periodic or regular
physical stock counts by supervisors both from the Ministry’s head office and
the institute.
She said donated goods are exposed to misappropriation if
the Ministry does not put adequate controls for delivery, receipt, recording
and custody of goods.
“Failure to consistently record donated items compromises
the accountability of same and without physical verification, it would be
difficult to ascertain whether the received donations were properly recorded
and accounted for,” said Mrs Chiri.
She recommended that the ministry should ensure that goods
donated are consistently recorded using the same unit of measurement.
“The Ministry should ensure that bales, sacks and bags of
donated goods are kept sealed at all times. Stores register should capture all
important details such as full description of items (specifications),
quantities received, quantities issued, balance (in stock) and signature of the
recipient on issuances” said Mrs Chiri. Chronicle
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