Auditor General (AG) Mildred Chiri has expressed concern
over the disappearance of a donation of 600 000 litres of fuel by a South
African company.
The fuel was meant to transport prisoners, but it cannot be
properly accounted for by the Ministry of Justice.
Chiri revealed this in her 2018 audit report of the Justice
ministry. She said the ministry entered into an arrangement with the South
African company to donate four million litres of diesel to the Zimbabwe Prisons
and Correctional Services (ZPCS).
“The Ministry of Justice, on behalf of ZPCS, went on to
obtain a duty-free certificate for the waiver of duty of $2 460 000, and it
also entered into an arrangement with National Oil Infrastructure Company
(NOIC) for the storage of the fuel,” Chiri said.
But she said records provided by the Justice ministry
showed that 39 010 litres were delivered on December 31, 2018.
“However, records for the same period provided by Central
Mechanical and Equipment Department (CMED), who are the official transporters
of the diesel, indicate that the transporter had withdrawn a total of 672 500
litres from the facility storage at the NOIC depot,” Chiri said.
“Audit was not furnished with details of how 642 490 litres
of the diesel withdrawn from the NOIC depot was used and accounted for. This
was in violation of section 69 (i) and (ii) of the Public Procurement and
Disposal of Public Assets Act.”
The AG said the risk was that the fuel might have been diverted
to the commercial fuel market and government prejudiced of revenue in excess of
$2 540 000 coming from various levies which were waived on the pretext that the
products were for government use.
“The ministry should obtain all the relevant documentation
and reconciliations of the deliveries made to date and the remaining balance of
the facility. There should be proper accounting of the fuel receipt; issuance
and running balance collaborated with adequate documentation and physical
checks,” Chiri said.
The Justice ministry’s response to the audit observation
was that in collaboration with the South African fuel donor Gloew Trading (Pvt)
Ltd they were compiling relevant documentation and reconciliation of deliveries
made to date.
Chiri also revealed that the Justice ministry, which
oversees the ZPCS Fund, diverted $80 003 meant to meet medical expenses for
prisoners without Treasury authority and instead used it for medical expenses
for ZPCS employees.
She said it was wrong because the amount was used for
expenses not covered by the fund’s constitution.
“Authority should always be obtained from Treasury before
the Fund’s resources are used for expenses not covered by its constitution,”
the AG said.
The response from the Justice ministry to Chiri was that
they had since stopped paying officers’ medical bills using retention funds,
adding that the last payment was made in June 2017. Standard
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