“I concluded that the CPU is not adequately prepared to
manage disasters and has not been efficient in the distribution of some of the
relief items and in rehabilitation of the infrastructure that was destroyed.
“On the other hand, the systems that are in place are not
effective in terms of accounting for relief items,” said Mrs Chiri in her
conclusion.
Her report hits the department hard over what she saw as
poor administrative practices and she wants more training in stores management
and matching donations to needs quickly in any future similar event.
Cyclone Idai affected Manicaland and parts of Masvingo
provinces in March 2019 and claimed over 350 lives and left a trail of injuries
and destruction.
In her audit report on the role played by the Department of
Civil Protection after Cyclone Idai, Mrs Chiri said almost 34 tonnes of goods
expired in Chimanimani while in the custody of the CPU by being stored on wet
floors and that the CPU, when handing out the needed supplies or gifts, failed
to record ID numbers of beneficiaries or have them sign for what they were
getting.
Slow use of donated funds resulted in work stoppages as
service providers demanded payment. The money was there but arrangements were
not being made to use these gifts in time to pay for urgent work.
More importantly, the CPU is accused of failing to broadcast
early disaster warning signs using 20 radio receivers donated by the
Meteorological Services Department, and further failed to clear urgently lent
dewatering pumps at Beitbridge Border Post until their use was no longer
necessary.
Similarly 2 400 bags of cement donated by Bikita Minerals
in May 2019 to the local CPU had not yet reached the District Development
Coordinator at the time of audit in September 2019.
The audit also noted that vehicles were drawing more fuel
than expected by the distance travelled, that no registration numbers of
vehicles drawing such fuel were captured, and no contracts were signed for
hired vehicles.
There were problems of over-ordering medical supplies. Mrs
Chiri suggested provincial medical directors ensure that standard operating
procedures are in place for a needs assessment as some drugs were dispatched to
the Idai area that were not required, and so they sat in stock until they
expired.
There were no proper requisitions for release of drug
stocks as the Provincial Medical Director for Manicaland was using his
discretion, and records of issues of drugs were written on sheets of paper.
Based on these findings, Mrs Chiri concluded that CPU was
not prepared to cope with what it needed to do after the cyclone.
She recommended that District Civil Protection committees
should ensure proper planning, training in stores management and needs
assessment in order to ensure that received items are distributed while still
suitable for consumption, rather than let them spoil in damp storage. During a
stock count on September 14, 2019, Mrs Chiri said she observed that 33 403kg of
goods at Machongwe Forward Distribution Centre had expired, adding that the
food items were exposed to high levels of moisture as they were stored on the
floor without pallets.
“I observed that no proper records for relief items
received and disbursed were maintained. There was no uniformity in accounting
for donations from Manyame Airbase to Manicaland and Masvingo provinces as
there were no detailed dispatch documents and receiving registers for audit
trail.
“Only a list of donated items was submitted for audit.
Furthermore, there were no full descriptions of items such as the quantities or
units received in order to determine the total quantities or volumes donated.
“There were no standard formats used for receiving and
distribution of relief items.
“Some districts used issue vouchers, others plain bond
paper, photocopied issue vouchers and registers. No proper ledgers were
maintained in the warehouses or districts to enable audit trail of donations
made,” said Mrs Chiri
She was critical of the slow use of donated funds, saying
the financial assistance that was received through the Ministry of Finance and
Economic Development was $1 972 758, US$3 033 449 and R20 000 000.
An examination of expenditure documents and bank
statements, Mrs Chiri said, indicated there were funds that had been received
but had not been used in 60 days, yet the affected provinces were unable to do
their work due to financial challenges.
“For example, there were work stoppages on road works due
to non-payment of contractors by the Department of Roads and PDC Manicaland was
in need of $15 000 000 as reflected in their report dated June 3, 2019, but as
at August 30, 2019 they had received only $5 160 000.”
The audit noted through the Zimbabwe National Water
Authority that the delivery of five dewatering pumps donated by Xylem Water
Solutions was delayed at Beitbridge Border Post resulting in the equipment
getting to Mutare when there was no longer any need for dewatering.
The equipment was then returned to Xylem Water Solutions
based in South Africa on July 18, 2019.
In its response to audit observations, the Manicaland Civil
Protection Planning Committee said: “Indeed, the PCPC received the pumps but
were neither aware of the request nor were they involved in the process of
bringing in the pumps and clearing them at the border. They were irrelevant to
the response and recovery work that we undertook.”
Regarding the hiring out of vehicles without contracts,
CMED management said: “CMED could not come up with its own contract on CPU
business but it was possible for CPU to hire vehicles.” Herald
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