Massive looting – Parly probe

The committees probe unearthed extensive misappropriation and irregularities, diversion of public funds and resources to non-public usage, weak contact management and administration, violation of rules, and shocking losses of public money.

The audit report, based on oral evidence with accounting officers in line ministries, shows how ministries are hotbeds of fraudulent activity. It covers the Public Service and Public Service Commission, and the ministries of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment, Finance, Home Affairs, Industry and Commerce, and Education, Arts, Sports and Culture.

Committee chair, Hatfield MDC MP Tapiwa Mashakada, said a separate report covering the rest of the ministries would be presented “in due course.”

The report includes the following findings:

The Public Service commission failed to account for 14 vehicles that were received from the Reserve Bank. The vehicles were not recorded either in the vehicle register or the donations register.

The Registrar General’s office flouted treasury regulations regarding handling of cash and other public moneys collected by designated authorities. The RG’s office is authorised to retain only 10 percent of money collected from passport payments and other revenue, but was retaining 100 percent.

Significantly, the RG’s office does not have a foreign currency account, the audit revealed. The Home Affairs permanent secretary Matshiya refuted the qualifications by the audit report, basing his arguments on expired 2002 regulations authorising retention of 100 percent cash collected. The regulations were scrapped in 2003.

The Zimbabwe Republic Police failed to manage exhibits and arms in the armoury, the probe revealed. An exhibits register at ZRP Beitbridge revealed theft of massive quantities of bricks of Pacific and Remington cigarettes.

A safe purported to contain R7 160 000 and several exhibits could not be opened for committee inspection by police in Beitbridge, ostensibly because there were no keys. In Esigodini 18 firearms could not be made available for audit at the local police station.

Augustine Chihuri, the police commissioner general, told the committee the audit observations that exhibits were missing was a “misrepresentation”.

Ghost workers were discovered in several ministries. The permanent secretary for education, Stephen Mahere, admitted that three officers, who ceased to be employed in February 2009, remained on the payroll, while in the Registrar Generals office 22 continued receiving salaries after leaving.

“The committee dismissed the excuse given by the Registrar General (Tobaiwa Mudede) with regard to exit interviews as the interviews were indeed held at the conclusion of the audit process, says the report, which also discovered ghost workers in the Public Service and public Service Commission.

“The committee was of the view that arguments presented in relation to officers who remained on the payroll after termination of their service were unjustifiable and as such, there was negligence of duty on the part of the officer responsible for notifying the Salary Service Bureau of any changes to the payroll,” the report says.

Audit findings pointed to the flouting of appointment procedures in the recruitment of 10,277 officers in May 2008 in the ministry of youth. The report outlines several irregularities, including duplicated names and surnames with the same IDs, individuals appearing in two ministries, no appointment documents, same date of birth for many of the youths, and same bank accounts used for paying employees.

The report highlights dereliction of duty and gross negligence by the Public Service Commission (headed by Mariyawanda Nzuwa) in overly delegating its mandate without putting in place monitoring mechanisms to ensure compliance with the rules.

The committee noted the unaccountability of 300 litres of fuel coupons in the education ministry, with serial numbers 0027151-027152 and 002727152-00271266.

“Dr Mahere informed the committee that the 300 litres in question were allocated to the deputy minister,” the report says.