The Public Accounts Committee continued its sitting to examine the Auditor-General’s Special Audit Report on Government Outstanding Claims and Commitments as at 31st December 2024, with three (3) MDAs appearing before the Committee.
The first was Ministry of Finance and they explained the challenges they face as a Central Management Agency and an MDA for the implementation of the budget.
As a result of that, there’s an ongoing effort to strengthen systems through the GIFMIS framework, to improve accounts payable and commitment control. We urged them to maintain an ageing analysis of arrears both manually and on GIFMIS to help them keep proper records on arrears and other payables.
The Committee also examined findings involving the Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, including interest payments for 1D1F participating companies which the Standard Chartered bank initially denied the existence of such an account. Also the Ministry was directed to offer an apology to the Deputy Minister of trade after a laptop that was described in the audit report as missing was actually with the IT department of the Ministry for repairs.
In the case of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, there was some significant discrepancies in the submission made by the Auditors and the Ministry hence on the issue of the transportation of Rice and Maize and it storage, the Committee directed the Supplier and Agent of the said transaction to appear before the Committee on Thursday
As proceedings continue, the focus remains clear: strengthen systems, enforce accountability, and prevent the recurrence of these challenges in the future.
