THE Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has expressed shock that all the ministries have unretired imprest amounting to K445 billion.
PAC chairperson, Emmanuel Hachipuka observed yesterday when Works and Supply Permanent Secretary Bizwayo Nkunika appeared before his committee that no ministries had come out clean on retiring imprest.
He said public servants had resorted to getting public money through imprest because they knew that they would not be queried.
Mr Hachipuka said controlling officers should take audits seriously because in other countries, they could be suspended for having anomalies in their accounts.
He said controlling officers in Zambia were not using their power to discipline their subordinates who did not retire imprest. He said it was frustrating for the committee to handle the same anomalies every year when controlling officers could correct the situation.
And Mr Hachipuka directed Lieutenant Colonel Nkunika to furnish the office of the auditor general with receipts on K1.4 billion worth of fuel.
This was after some members of the committee wondered how K1.4 billion worth of fuel receipts could go missing when the ministry had a transport officer who was supposed to be keeping the documents.
Col Nkunika said the receipts for the fuel were missing when auditors went to his ministry but they had since been found and would be shown to the office of the auditor general.
He said the ministry was forced to divert K12 billion meant for the rehabilitation of Independence Stadium to Chirundu One-Stop Border Post to avoid further costs on the border posts.
Col Nkunika said the money meant for the rehabilitation of the presidential guest house in Ndola was used to buy furniture for State House.
He said the ministry faced problems in collecting money from people who bought personal-to-holder motor vehicles because some of them opted to pay from their terminal benefits.
Col Nkunika said two former permanent secretaries owed Government huge amounts of money and after reminders, only former Sports minister, George Chulumanda paid K8 million towards the car he got.
And office of the vice-president Permanent Secretary, Davies Sampa said his office would adhere to all the directives from the auditor general after it was discovered that it had no record for the purchase of K40 million worth of fuel.
[Times of Zambia]
This is sickening,
after all this day light robbery,someone comes out and say he is happy with his civil servants
so f.cukin annoying,are we that stupid that we can be taken for this kind of a ride,come on people,have a heart for the common man on the streets,,ndiye upuba uyu
This Government is cruel, Please let us show the m the red card
An impressed system of petty cash means that the general ledger account Petty Cash will be set at a given amount. As long as set amount is adequate for small disbursements the Petty Cash account will never have an entry again.When the amount in the account gets low, a request will be made to replenish the money that was disbursed. The requested check is drawn on the organization’s checking account, the Cash account will be credited not the Petty Cash account. The expense accounts will be debited as shown by the petty cash receipts, e.g. Postage expense, supplies
expense. In a nut shell, the general ledger account Petty Cash is not shown to be involved in the replenishment.So the boss wants to go have a drink after work,he calls the cashier for petty cash,never to be returned.Thats…
Why is it only ‘in other countries’ where people would be suspended pending an investigation? Basically the Ministry of Health scam is being replicated across the board. Yet we run to China for a £1bn loan, thereby increasing out extenal debt by almost 33%
Veteran, Senior Citizen and various Bootlickers can you please comment?
The will retire the imprest once they have finished with the construction of their houses – they will use receipts for buying cement, door locks, window frames, burglar bars, paint and other hardware items. Then it will balance to what ever amount which needs to be retired. Internal Auditors have noted in various ministries!
My wife hasn’t retired the imprest I gave her last month, should I forgive her since there was mothers day in the month and she’s a youth – Please bloggers help?
these guys will be jailed when the next president our beloved MR SATA goes to state house.
Chi Bwezi busy praising his Civil Servants that include Ministers. Now this. They steal through the NCC, they steal through illegal huge gratuity from parliament, they steal through imprest. They Steal during election campaign, they stole even during LPM’s funeral. Lets jail all the Ministers, they are thieves.
Broken record:-@:-@:-@:-@:-@:-@
Ulupiya ubwafulafye sure? Fire the individuals who could not retire the imprest, simple. For the system to identify that it’s unretired then the system knows which ministry, department and persons concerned. Mr President please give your orders. Am sure even the president has not retired his own given the frequency of his travels.
Smoothcriminal spot on! Am wondering how petty cash is reimbursed, because basic accounting requires that you produce invoices that match your spendings. ‘He said the ministry faced problems in collecting money from people who bought personal-to-holder motor vehicles because some of them opted to pay from their terminal benefits’. Driving around lusaka in SUV’s you havent paid for, and to add salt to the wound, even the fuel is on credit and you will never pay for it, what a shame! 445 Billion of taxed money stolen… really sickening indeed!
A named Deputy Minister abusing govt cash, Auditor General
More funds misappropriated at Ministry of works and Supply, Ministry of Local Government and Zambia Police
AG’s report reveals massive misuse of funds in Zambian foreign missions
Clergy propose elevation of the post of Account General to Permanaent Secretary
ZNBC audit report ready for scrutiny
”something is wrong somewhere!”
As long as the civil service is not uphauled, things will not change no matter who is in government. Invoices and receipts will probably be corruptly found for the K445 bn….what a shame.
I think na ma so called controlling officers need to be given some of those Fr. Bwalya Drogbas….red card
This should let us know that our Governmentsystem to hold people accountable is weak. It is so easy to steal money in government why is that???
On another unrelated note, its nice to see the coat of arms in the picture. But what about the red shoes on the man ……..Maybe this was an independence time prediction that we’ll be ruled by a leader who will wear shoes of many colours
#7. Who do you think will vote for Sata???? Zambians are tired of recycling politicians. we need new crops of leaders and not Sata! If you think sata will win, then keep on dreaming 😮
It has become a custom in Zambia to oppose every leadership that is in place. We opposed KK, then FTJ, I believe for a good cause, Mwanawasa and now RB. We are now eyeing King Cobra. The way we know the man it will be no sooner before 90 days of his reign than the red card will be flashed at him. The question is “Who are we going to present to the whole world to see that that is the brains of Zambia? Let us rethink our position constructively and help those who govern do it rightly.
The receipts were missing now they have been found ( WITH ALL THE FILLING STATION AROUND).
“This was after some members of the committee wondered how K1.4 billion worth of fuel receipts could go missing when the ministry had a transport officer who was supposed to be keeping the documents.
Col Nkunika said the receipts for the fuel were missing when auditors went to his ministry but they had since been found and would be shown to the office of the auditor general”
THIS NONSENSE DESERVES A RED CARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CANT SEE THAT THING CALLED VETERAN AKA SENIOR CITIZEN/MWATA HERE
The issue of unretired imprest in the government ministries is very disturbing. No wonder most civil servants cling onto trips, spend few days and claim a lot of days. We are told the Financial Intellegency Wing is now in place. Why can’t the govt incorporate private audit firms in this wing? Atleast such practices should be prevented before we hear about them from the PAC.
ZAMBIA Information and Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA) public relations manager Ngabo Nankonde has said the authority has engaged cyber crime experts at the Zambia Police Service to monitor people who watch pornography on the Internet.
During a public forum in Serenje on Wednesday, Nankonde said the Zambia police had formed a cyber security team, which would look at all those involved in watching pornographic materials on the Internet.
The penalty fee for those who would be found guilty was K36 million or a jail sentence of 10 years.
“So for those of us who might receive pornographic materials just delete them upon receiving because when you are found in possession of these materials you will be arrested because ignorance is no defence under the laws of Zambia,” she said.
On “PAC chairperson, Emmanuel Hachipuka observed yesterday when Works and Supply Permanent Secretary Bizwayo Nkunika appeared before his committee that no ministries had come out clean on retiring imprest,” it is sad that the report left out cardinal details like UPND MP E. Hachipuka which is probably made to conceal the identity of the hardworking mighty UPND opposition members in our Parliament.
As for “Col Nkunika said the money meant for the rehabilitation of the presidential guest house in Ndola was used to buy furniture for State House,” this is very disturbing news because we fall to keep things in shape by diverting money meant for correct mantenance works just to please some person at State House.
B blest all.
_
Matt 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of…
On “He said the ministry faced problems in collecting money from people who bought personal-to-holder motor vehicles because some of them opted to pay from their terminal benefits… Col Nkunika said two former permanent secretaries owed Government huge amounts of money and after reminders, only former Sports minister, George Chulumanda paid K8 million towards the car he got,” what did the contract or loan signed forms effect on the part of those failures? This is not time to start playing games and so please institute bailiffs for defaulting and wanting characters so that we can move on as a country.
Many fellows are suffering due to this behaviour.
Be blest all.
_
Matt 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added…
#21
they will arrest the whole country i challenge them to start with the ministers.Some of these laws are so archaic their only purpose for being on the Law Books is to victimise perceived enemies.Better still scrutinise the cyber experts first non of them will be clean
I dont really understand this Accounts and Imprest and retire jargon but what it is , The amount shafula. This is all my contribution
#veteran#citizen#mwata are busy shining on the other side when this side it is boiling for them. Anyway that’s what it is for characters who think that being a cadre or a demagog is just uttering anything even the most rubbish!
And only yesterday the president was praising the civil servants saying he was happy with the current crop. So is this what he is happy about?
This is the same mentality as certain pastors have they collect money to live lavishly. Government collects money from it’s citizens through PAYE so that it’s unretired. Ending up building houses in Chalala. Some crap in this coutry. This is about US$ 96 million unretired surely.
YOU Hyprocrites, stop calling us out to come and debate the obvious. On the other thread you are busy bashing the story as sourced from Times of Zambia and label it propaganda and on this thread you have gone blind to the fact that this story was done by the same paper that you are bashing on the other thread. Just goes to show that The PF and the so called PACT, just support what suits them. If these problems where discovered under the PACT government they would have been swept under the carpet. The openess of this report shows how the RB govt is committed to transparance and I can assure that ALL and I mean ALL culprits mentioned in this report will be dealt with. There is nothing to defend here except take action. This is criminal. The Hour is working l-) l-) l-) l-)
Just another day in the kingdom of zamunda…(:|
# 29…when will action be taken. Take action then we will know you are a serious boma. Not just rhetoric. We hear action will be taken all the time. Boma just plays to the gallery whilst sharing the loot behind closed doors.
Sad reading indeed. Is this ‘the current crop of civil servants’ that makes His Excellency, the Republican President Happy? Fire all the thieves Mr President and force them to forfeit all their mansions, guest houses, SUVs and bank accounts to the State. Failure to do so will further tarnish our standing before the international community.
Interesting observation, #15. Maybe the red shoes symbolizes the grass-roots level. So, at the grassroots people have and are always ready to show their contempt for any leadership that does not perform. (Think: George Bush and shoes) I think this red card issue stems from there, but in these times, not too many people can afford shoes… so a red card is much cheaper. Word to the wise.**==
I have never heard anyone getting the heat after such financial scandals. This reminds me of the story about the Zambian Hell. Someone died and went to hell. There were American,Russian,British, South African, Zambian and many more hells. In all these hells the punishment was severe;electric shock,nailing ones arms,beatings etc. The Zambian hell was the only one with a long queu. When aked why this was so since the punishment was the same the answer was 1. The electric chair does not work because ZESCO cut electricity, nails were never supplied despete payment and the chief devil was a former civil servant in his lifetime so he comes in signs he book and goes on his errands. Let us see that we put our record staright and avoid the Zambian hell. Ilesi na ukawalala unapaka.
I have never heard anyone getting the heat after such financial scandals. This reminds me of the story about the Zambian Hell. Someone died and went to hell. There were American,Russian,British, South African, Zambian and many more hells. In all these hells the punishment was severe;electric shock,nailing ones arms,beatings etc. The Zambian hell was the only one with a long queu. When aked why this was so since the punishment was the same the answer was 1. The electric chair does not work because ZESCO cut electricity, nails were never supplied despete payment and the chief devil was a former civil servant in his lifetime so he comes in signs he book and goes on his errands. Let us see that we put our record staright and avoid the Zambian hell. Ilesi na ukawalala unapaka.
Oh, and the woman dressed in red? Don’t get me started on that…**==
Good Afternoon
This theft of public funds by public servants must have been going on for a while. No wonder we never seem to move forward in development no matter what policies we put in place because there are always the parasitic few who syphon the resources into their pockets.
The saddest side about it all is that this sort of theft would NOT occur IF the highest office of public service (State House) did not turn a blind eye at it. The president has it within his power to direct an investigation to expose the culprits and root out the abysmal attitude towards public resources. When will RB bring some cheer to the majority of long-suffering Zambians?
I ACTUALLY AGREE WITH THE WAY CORRUPTION OR SHOULD I SAY ABUSE OF STATE FUNDS IS BEING HANDLED.
1.UNDER LMP(HE DID A GOOD JOB BY THE WAY) TARGETS WHERE THOSE THAT STOLE BIG WITHOUT ADDRESSING THE SOURCE..OF WHICH I NOW BELIEVE IS FROM SIMPLE THINGS SUCH AS WHAT HAS BEEN OUT FROM THE AG OFFICE AND OTHERS.
IF AND WHEN THESE MATTERS COME TO THE OPEN WE ARE MOVING CLOSE TO DEALING WITH CORRUPTION OR ATLEAST PEOPLE WILL THINK TWICE…REMEBER IF THERE IS NO FRAME WORK TO DEAL WITH IT THEN PEOPLE WALK IE FTJ…WE CAN NOT AFFORD TO PICK UP EVERYONE WE SUSPECT WITHOUT A FRAME WORK TO DEAL WITH CULPRITS…AGAIN FTJ…OTHER PRESIDENTS WOULD BE DISPUTING THESE REPORTS JUST FOR POPULARITY ATLEAST DEPT R DOING THERE JOBS THE SAME SHOULD BE HAPPENING IN MINISTRIES NOT WAIT 4 PRESIDENT O THE TIME
At last Bootlicker is has heeded our call for him to appear.
Iwe colwe, what action has been taken against those diplomats who flouted the rules? As you are one of them (you ‘work’ at the Embassy in SA don’t you) you are well placed to tell us who has been dealt with and how.
Before you accuse me of being Pact I am not. I think Sata might be worse than Bwezani (if that is possible)
This a time to put on some red lipstick!;;)
Honestly if the head doesnt function how else do you expect the rest of the body to….8->. What a shameful bunch of losers[-(
#27 true….and as I wrote the heading on that thread should have been “RB happy with the current crop of civil criminals”;)
How do you expext to survive in the Civil Service if we don’t get allowances, through imprests! Our salaries are meagre and our conditions of service are the poorest! Where can youfind a decent house for K250,000. This is what is given as housing allowance for say an Accountant, a the custodian of the GRZ funds! The minimum rentals in a flooded area like Kamwala, is K1,500,000. The take away home for this Accountant is less than K1.5. Am not justifying the unretired imprests, but I guess the abuse of Public funds can best be stemmed and curbed by looking at the root cause of these! The high cost of living! If not, year in, year out, these reports will contine hitting us in the face! Mere cosmetic kind of reports! The AG’s draw funds the same source and paid peanuts too! The rest u can…
Unretired imprest dont mean money was stolen, it simply means someone never submitted the receipt for maybe a trip, purchases. In Govt if dont retired imprest that money is recovered when on retirement or pension so no big deal.
On these financial scums, let the NCC enact in the constitution some fast track court, the sort that resembles the tribunal. The mere fact that the AG report is under scrutiny by the PAC it should be tendered in as evidence before the tribunal. The Constitution should also give the AG, the rules of natural justice, to be heard in evidence. What purpose does AG’s report serve if it is just given pep talk and thieves go on blossoming in our stolen tax money? It is time we approached this issue with the seriousness it deserves. Too much impunity should result in those protecting thieves to be cited as collaborators.
elo ubututu……
#45 is trying to simplify this issue wrongly. Evidence of expenditure is by way of accounting for the money given to you. If accountability is not there by way of settling imprest it is clear evidence of malpractice. How can someone not settle imprest if they really used the money for the intended purpose?Again #45, proof of expenditure is by way of settlement of imprest in this case; those are the dictates of Professional Accounting!!!!!
STEALING/CRRUPTION SHOULD BE CONDEMNED BY ALL. HOWEVER WHAT I SEE HERE IS MORE OF POOR ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS RATHER AND LESS OF THEFTS. I HAVE WORKED IN CIVIL SERVICE BEFORE, ITS A BIG CHALLENGE TO KEEP DOCUMENTATION ESPECIALLY WITH POOR INFRASTRUCTURE (OFFICES, ICT, FURNITURE/CABINETS,ETC) WHICH IS CARDINAL TO SAFE KEEPING OF DOCUMENT. WE NEED TO WORK ON THESE AS A COUNTRY ALTHOUGH IT WILL TAKE YEARS. YOU CAN IMAGINE EVERY OFFICE OF EACH MINISTRY/DEPT IN EACH DISTRICT ACROSS THE COUNTRY WITH ALL THE MOBILITY CHALLENGES. IT IS SIMPLY A NIGHTMARE OUR COLLEGUES WORK UNDER VERY DIFFICULTY CIRCUMSTANCES. BUT OBVIOUSLY THEY COULD DO MORE EVEN SO. LETS SUPPORT THEM TO IMPROVE THE SITUATION FURTHER. REGARDLESS OF LEADERSHIP, ITS SIMPLY NOT FEASIBLE TO GET 100% ACCOUNTABILITIES.
Meanwhile the President is happy with us: “President Rupiah Banda says he is happy with the current crop of civil servants working in the public service. President Banda says an effective civil service requires hard working workforce that are committed to duty”.
# 47 is refering to Masebo #44
When such huge financial indiscipline and other malpractices in government like corruption are the order of the day you begin to realise that as a nation we are doomed. The president is Zambia’s top steward of the nation’s resources and the buck stops with him and there is no way he can pretend that all is well. These criminal acts are not new, they are as old as Zambia. The people have cried and complained but those in authority don’t want to know. A well organised clique of criminals and crooks in smart suits have turned the country as their personal market stall while the rest of us just watch.
Check on Mulongoti’s imprest ,I am sure he has not retired his. The focus by the Auditors Generals report was on Mpombo the other time, this time around, it is the Zambian way of doing things. Every ministry is affected am sure they will stop making noise on Mpombo on his imprest he did not retire because everyone does it. Same Zambian way of doing things.
RB happy with the current crop of Civil Servants »
18 Mar 2010
President Rupiah Banda says he is happy with the current crop of civil servants working in the public service
:^o:^o:^o=((=((=((:((:(([-([-(:-?:-?%-(%-(x(:-??:-??#:-s#:-s… not surprised…what can a controlling officer do apart from saving his job..someone would have foned :)]:)]:)]:)] levy by now but obviously that hope to save zambia is gone .:((:((:((:((:((
Kalilo! If you can’t beat them join them! Lol! Rather crude! Seriously speaking there is need to finding a lasting solution to all these so called unaccounted for funds, misapplied funds and unretired imprests. I have a hunch all these issues have been addressed and responded to already in the preliminary responses and the AG’s office may not have captured them! My feeling Ladies and Gentlemen! If there’s nothing to report about the AG’s will be declared redundant! How else can all these monies not retired! Come on people, be reasonable!!!
Get real! You cant just walk out of any ministry with K445 billion in your pocket.
I work in the ministry and it is not possible to walk out with any money at all.
This unretired imprest means that the cash spent has not YET been tabulated in MOF standard and delivered yet.
Its like when you get authority to take K1 million for a business trip and you come back with receipts amounting to K960,000 and you submit them to the accountant with K40,000 cash.
The accountant must now retire this disbursement with expenditure records. And so an account of the K1 million is prepared and submitted to the auditor before being presented to the board.
The situation above does not mean the K1 million was stolen. It just means it was not retired properly. If it was stolen PAC wud say so!
Zambians have such a negative mindset that they think everything to do with money is theft. They dont even take time to learn and see that many issues are to do with accounting practices and proceedures. It is not always theft. Very sad to see such ignorance amongst computer literate people.
#56 Mwangala and #57,base your facts on these arguments below,if receipts are missing and the money is not accounted for then thats plain stealing.I explained how an IMPREST system works in my earlier comment,and logically thats what is happening in these ministries
1-He said public servants had resorted to getting public money through imprest because they knew that they would not be queried.
2-And Mr Hachipuka directed Lieutenant Colonel Nkunika to furnish the office of the auditor general with receipts on K1.4 billion worth of fuel.
This was after some members of the committee wondered how K1.4 billion worth of fuel receipts could go missing when the ministry had a transport officer who was supposed to be keeping the documents
Bishop Mambo
so what do you want zambiuans to do,sit back and just keep quiet while a controlling officer in a ministry fails to account or produce receipts,now thats what i call being ignorant,asking someone to account for missaplication of funds is not being negative,its simply making sure that people intrusted with public funds do the right thing,as you rightly put it,its not always theft,but one way or the other someone has dipped his pen in company ink,which is theft,financial accounting has got nothing to do with being computer literate
#57 Bishop Mambo,
What has been highlighted in this report is the fact that finance administration procedures have not been followed in a disciplined manner thus creating loopholes for possible thefts. This has been a major problem in Zambia for too long and many public servants have taken advantage and have stolen huge amounts of cash.
But dont you see that ALL Zambians are crooked?
Show me one Zambian who has never paid a bribe!
It is our way of life.
So what next? Fire the entire civil service and hire new staff from Evelyn Hone?
Well, they take bribes too!
I am an accountant in government and can confirm that receipts do not go missing. When the AG’s people come and do an audit, they conclude receipts are missing when in actual fact they are being processed by another department at that time. It is impossible to have the entire ministry come to a standstill during audits. Some documents will not be available at the time of audit. So the AG brands you guilty until you prove innocence.
If the money was stolen, then the AG’s report would have indicated this. The fact that theft was not indicated means the goods and services paid for were received but documentation is incomplete. This documentation could have been sitting in a directors office awaiting sign off.
Therefore, you must tekanya before you lose your mind in debate!
Some people hate RB & MMD so much that they only see negative even when there is positive. It is sad to see civilization deteriorate like this.
Thank you Mwangala for clarifying the position. Some people like smooth criminal are so bent on removing a functioning government that they will profess all sorts of ideas and understandings just so that they can paint a white paper red.
There is no benefit in this slander campaign of RB & MMD. After all, what is the benefit of change if the other options are even worse than the incumbent?
Kindly refer to The Financial Regulations, 2006 Part VIII sections 86 through to 98 then you debate inteligently.
I beg to differ, an audit is done for a particular financial year, which means that every cent for that period is or has been spent,why should auditors come in to audit money that has not yet been spent for a current financial year,why should recepits be sitting on the directors inbox,auditors will notify you way before they land so you can organize all your paperwork
They give prior notice, so that the ministry doesnt come to a stand still,they audit books from the previous financila year not the current one so they do not interfere with your work,you just handover paperwork and continue with your work
that explanation is really flawed Mwangala
Bishop Mambo,im not bent on anything, whats so functional about this gvt,these are just facts,no hate,just plain facts