Editorial: Ministry Audits Still Show Need For Proper Accounting

A LARGE number of audit reports by the Auditor General on various Ministries, parastatals and regional authorities have been tabled in the National Assembly, and a broad overview of the Ministries in particular show that good accounting practices and/or bookkeeping remain elusive and over-expenditure is still a major problem.

Most of the audit reports were for the year that ended March 31 2004, but some of them dated back to the previous financial year. As in the past, the onus of blame must fall on the Permanent Secretaries of the Ministries and other responsible departments, and there should be renewed emphasis placed on the necessity for these officials to be well versed in accounting practices.Too often the ‘excuses’ of various Ministries for non-adherence to prescribed audit procedures would be, among others, that the Chief Accounting Officer, or Permanent Secretary, has been moved elsewhere or is new in the post.A second ‘excuse’ is lack of capacity.In view of the above, it is important that Permanent Secretaries be as ‘permanent’ as possible in the Ministries they serve, and are transferred only when strictly necessary.Secondly, it would appear regarding lack of capacity that Government really needs to give attention to making accounting a profession within their ranks and ensuring that qualifications are met and adhered to, or little improvement in the situation will come about in future.Those involved in the audit process would in all likelihood recommend that accounting be prioritised and proper job descriptions given to all posts in the Government accounting field.For example, an assistant accountant should be appointed for a probationary period, and the appointment only confirmed once the basic needs at that level have been complied with.Discrepancies should be ironed out in the process.A BCom graduate, for example, may have no job experience, but nevertheless a degree; and another employee may have a Grade 12 with no academic accounting background yet several years’ experience.At whatever level such people are employed, whether assistant accountant or chief accountant for example, there is a need for them to comply with the conditions of the post.In addition, it is important that Chief Accounting Officers of Ministries make use of outsiders with an independent viewpoint to assess their audit performance and look at recommendations and implementation thereof, so that when the next audit is due, there is a tangible improvement.At present there appears to be a brief flurry of activity when the audit is tabled, after which all is forgotten until the next one comes around.Good management and systems controls go a long way, for example, to minimise theft and corruption.Abuse of Subsistence and Travel allowances might not happen as frequently if the system and people in place prevent abuse.It is unacceptable that so many Ministries have large amounts of outstanding S & T monies; in the case of the National Assembly for example, an amount is still owed by the former, already retired Speaker.Treasury prescribes a 30-day limit for accounting for such monies, and this should be adhered to by the recipient, and failing submission of receipts and vouchers, the money should be deducted from their salaries.Some Ministries are clearly better performers when it comes to the annual audit.The Ministry of Agriculture appears to be one of those that have submitted a fairly clean set of books for the past three financial years.The Ministry of Education too, can be commended for certain under-expenditures.At other Ministries, the picture is a more dismal one, and the Ministry of Works is an example in point.Generally speaking, Auditor General Junius Kandjeke must be commended for catching up on the backlog of audit reports, although the simultaneous tabling of them created a headache for reporters trying to do justice to them.We would also encourage the Auditor General, after all the audits are in, to perhaps compile a list of general recommendations arising from his findings, so that Ministries are forced to prioritise what needs to be done to be more in compliance with Treasury rules and regulations than they have been in the past.As in the past, the onus of blame must fall on the Permanent Secretaries of the Ministries and other responsible departments, and there should be renewed emphasis placed on the necessity for these officials to be well versed in accounting practices.Too often the ‘excuses’ of various Ministries for non-adherence to prescribed audit procedures would be, among others, that the Chief Accounting Officer, or Permanent Secretary, has been moved elsewhere or is new in the post.A second ‘excuse’ is lack of capacity.In view of the above, it is important that Permanent Secretaries be as ‘permanent’ as possible in the Ministries they serve, and are transferred only when strictly necessary.Secondly, it would appear regarding lack of capacity that Government really needs to give attention to making accounting a profession within their ranks and ensuring that qualifications are met and adhered to, or little improvement in the situation will come about in future.Those involved in the audit process would in all likelihood recommend that accounting be prioritised and proper job descriptions given to all posts in the Government accounting field.For example, an assistant accountant should be appointed for a probationary period, and the appointment only confirmed once the basic needs at that level have been complied with.Discrepancies should be ironed out in the process.A BCom graduate, for example, may have no job experience, but nevertheless a degree; and another employee may have a Grade 12 with no academic accounting background yet several years’ experience.At whatever level such people are employed, whether assistant accountant or chief accountant for example, there is a need for them to comply with the conditions of the post.In addition, it is important that Chief Accounting Officers of Ministries make use of outsiders with an independent viewpoint to assess their audit performance and look at recommendations and implementation thereof, so that when the next audit is due, there is a tangible improvement.At present there appears to be a brief flurry of activity when the audit is tabled, after which all is forgotten until the next one comes around.Good management and systems controls go a long way, for example, to minimise theft and corruption.Abuse of Subsistence and Travel allowances might not happen as frequently if the system and people in place prevent abuse.It is unacceptable that so many Ministries have large amounts of outstanding S & T monies; in the case of the National Assembly for example, an amount is still owed by the former, already retired Speaker.Treasury prescribes a 30-day limit for accounting for such monies, and this should be adhered to by the recipient, and failing submission of receipts and vouchers, the money should be deducted from their salaries.Some Ministries are clearly better performers when it comes to the annual audit.The Ministry of Agriculture appears to be one of those that have submitted a fairly clean set of books for the past three financial years.The Ministry of Education too, can be commended for certain under-expenditures.At other Ministries, the picture is a more dismal one, and the Ministry of Works is an example in point.Generally speaking, Auditor General Junius Kandjeke must be commended for catching up on the backlog of audit reports, although the simultaneous tabling of them created a headache for reporters trying to do justice to them.We would also encourage the Auditor General, after all the audits are in, to perhaps compile a list of general recommendations arising from his findings, so that Ministries are forced to prioritise what needs to be done to be more in compliance with Treasury rules and regulations than they have been in the past.