ETUZ urges govt to stop abuse of funds at MoE
ETUZ urges govt to stop abuse of funds at MoEBy Misheck Wangwe
Wed 09 Feb. 2011, 03:59 CAT
BASIC Education Teachers Union (BETUZ) says the government should come up with mechanisms to stop the rampant abuse of funds at the Ministry of Education.
And the Health Workers Union of Zambia has called for thorough investigations in the abuse of funds in the health sector following revelations by the Auditor General's report.
BETUZ general secretary Jeffrey Simuntala said the union was deeply concerned
with the rampant misappropriation and misapplication of huge sums of money that the ministry failed to account for at the time of the audit as revealed by the Auditor General's report.
According to the Auditor General's report on the accounts for the 2009 financial year, large sums of imprests were not retired, accounts had not been reconciled and there was misappropriation and misapplication of funds coupled with irregular payments.
Simuntala said relevant authorities at the Ministry of Education should explain why payment vouchers of more than K21 billion were not presented for audit contrary to Financial Regulation No.45.
He said it was disappointing to note that authorities at the ministry failed to produce supporting documents for 70 payments amounting to more than K4 billion made during the year under review.
Simutanga said it would be difficult for the country to achieve its targets of providing quality and effective education standards if the abuse of funds was left unchecked.
Auditor General Anna Chifungula had indicated in her report that internal financial controls at the Ministry of Education had deteriorated following an increase in unsupported expenditure form K2,876,334,834 in 2008 to K4,155,052,073 in 2009.
Contrary to Financial Regularisation No.45, 235 payment vouchers in amounts totalling K21,880,882,613 were not presented for audit.
And Health Workers Union general secretary Lewis Mukosha said the irregularities and mismanagement of resources by the Ministry of Health as indicated in the Auditor General’s report were outrageous and must be investigated by the law enforcement agencies.
Mukosha said it was unjustifiable for the ministry to fail to produce receipts for the procurement of drugs amounting to more than K5 billion.
He said the Ministry of Health should also explain why it paid huge sums of money totalling K5,794,403,806 on workshops within the period under review.
Mukosha said it would be difficult for the country to enhance the provision of quality and effective healthcare in the country if measures were not taken to stop the abuse of funds.
“We should not pretend that there is no abuse of funds at the Ministry of Health. We call upon the relevant authorities to move in and investigate these issues thoroughly and the culprits must be brought to book. We will not fold our arms and watch disgruntled public servants to abuse money meant to save lives,” said Mukosha.
The Ministry of Health, according to the Auditor General's Report of 2009, had paid a total of K5,794,403,806 to various lodges for seminars, workshops and conferences without seeking Cabinet authority.
The report further revealed that drugs and other medical supplies costing K5,406,298,725 had no record of receipt and distribution at Medical Stores Limited.
Labels: ANNA CHIFUNGULA, CORRUPTION, EDUCATION, MINISTRY OF HEALTH
posted by MrK @ 6:22 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home