WE cannot recall when a Zambian official has ever been taken to court for abuse of authority resulting from the Auditor-General’s report.
It is the same story every year and we hope that this will change for the better so that everyone is held accountable for their actions.
Year in and out we have reports of who misappropriated government funds and yet there has never been any action taken against these individuals.
The Auditor-General’s report should not be an exercise in futility, but one that bears fruit so that the country can benefit from it.
In the past 20 years of the MMD governance, it had become common for controlling officers to misappropriate government funds and get away with the crimes without punishment.
It is against this background that we consider Auditor-General Anna Chifungula’s advice very important because it illustrates that although some irregularities had reduced, others have remained unresolved.
The revelation that K550 million is still uninvoiced for in the Auditor-General’s report still shows that we have a long way to go before financial discipline is installed.
The latest Auditor-General’s report has revealed that unvouchered expenditure ranked the highest at K553 million in 2012 as compared to K77 million in 2011. This is from the report as of end of December 31, 2012.
A statement issued from the Office of the Auditor-General in Lusaka this week said while some irregularities have drastically reduced such as irregular payments, which were at K4 billion in 2011 but are at K1 billion in 2012, unvouchered expenditure has significantly increased from K77 billion in 2011 to K553 million in 2012.
We are hoping that these unexplained expenditures will be addressed so that the budget is within its limits.
We would love to see a situation where all monies spent are for designated needs so that the country does not lose focus on its developmental programmes.
Government, local and city authorities all have commitments and budgets to meet and this is very important in the attainment of their obligations.
For the sake of transparency, it is important all government agencies undertake programmes with vouchers to avoid questioning for the sake of transparency.
It is unthinkable that a senior government official can make payments without unveiling payment vouchers for auditing unless there is something to hide.
The Auditor-General has been doing a commendable job and this is in line with the PF government’s policy of zero tolerance to corruption.
There is need to take action against erring officers so that this can serve as a warning to others who think that misapplying government funds is normal.
The PF Government is trying to enhance development and this can only be attained with zero tolerance to corruption.
The Auditor-General’s report should not be an academic exercise but one that is determined to deter corruption like we have stated before.
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