SECRETARY to the Treasury Fredson Yamba has been tasked to prepare an action report on the latest Auditor General Report before the next Joint Financial Governance Forum for Ministers and Controlling Officers scheduled for December.

And government has confirmed the over K450,000 missing funds meant for Zambia Bureau of Standards and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission [CCPC], but were fraudulently paid to an individual for the year ending December 31, 2017 is under investigation.

“The Ministry of Finance also wishes to confirm that the report of the Auditor General on the accounts of the Republic for the year ended 31st December 2017 has been received,” the ministry’s spokesperson Chileshe Kandeta confirmed. “The Minister of Finance, Margaret Mwanakatwe, has since instructed the Secretary to the Treasury Fredson Yamba to ensure that the report is studied thoroughly and an action taken report prepared before the next Joint Financial Governance Forum for Ministers and Controlling Officers, scheduled for December 2018.”

And Kandeta stated the government’s commitment to transparency and accountability in the utilisation of public resources through implementation of Public Financial Management Reforms was bearing substantial fruit – especially after the enactment of the Public Financial Management Act, 2018.

He stated that the Public Financial Management Act, 2018, was now the principal act on public financial management matters.

Kandeta stated that the Act had helped to facilitate easy enforcement of regulations; offered clear guidance on management of financial reforms; and, stipulated offences and penalties related to public resources in both local and central government.

He stated that the Act was also embedded with provisions that have now operationalised the IFMIS and the Treasury Single Account.

Kandeta stated that there were reports that K450,000 went missing following the crashing of the Integrated Financial Management Information System [IFMIS] in January 2018.

“To put the record straight, the IFMIS developed operational challenges in January 2018. The funds in question relate to the Zambia Bureau of Standards and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission [CCPC] under the Ministry of Commerce Trade and Industry, which were fraudulently paid to an individual for the year ending 31st December 2017,” he stated.

Kandeta stated that IFMIS, an information technology platform, was restored in some sites in March 2018.

He stated that it became fully operational at the end of May 2018, following its re-installation in all sites – ministries and provinces.

“The Controller of Internal Audit, an office under the Ministry of Finance, which is in charge of internal financial controls in all ministries, provinces and other controlling bodies, is currently undertaking a post IFMIS re-installation audit for which a report will be produced once the exercise is completed. Only then will we know whether there has been any infringement of the provisions of the Public Financial Management Act, 2018, in handling financial transactions during the period when the system was in an unusable state,” Kandeta stated. “Concerning the over K450,000 missing funds paid to an individual instead of ZABS and CCPC, suffice to say, the IFMIS is a government wide platform which not only exists at Ministry of Finance but in many other line ministries and provinces as well. One of its most important features is an in-built audit trail configuration. It is this audit-trail configuration which caused the Controller of Internal Audit to trace the suspicious transaction and raise the same in a report shared with the Office of the Auditor General. When the matter was brought to the attention of the Ministry of Commerce Trade and Industry, under which ZABS and CCPC fall, the leadership of that Ministry acted swiftly and dismissed two individuals who were involved in the fraudulent transaction. Mr Rodgers Mwanza, a senior accountant, and Mr Lukanda Matambo, an accounts assistant, were both working under the Ministry of Commerce Trade and Industry at the time they committed the infringement of law on public finance, and were dismissed from the public service in December 2017. The case is now under investigation by law enforcement agencies and the due process of the law will be followed to the letter in reaching a conclusive end on the matter.”

Kandeta stated that during the week, additional statements would be issued on treasury and public financial management matters.

“We will also provide another update on the action that has been taken against public officers who have infringed the law in management of public resources,” stated Kandeta.