About 50,000 affected by torrential rain in southern Mozambique
FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Notícias]
An audit by Mozambique’s Administrative Tribunal has detected the diversion of an amount equivalent to more than €24 million from funds disbursed in 2021 by the state for the prevention and mitigation of Covid-19 during the pandemic.
In the audit report, which Lusa has now seen, the Administrative Tribunal states that it identified “matters that distort the financial statements of the funds disbursed for the prevention and mitigation” of Covid-19 in the 2021 financial year.
The document, sent to the government, states that the National Institute for Social Action (INAS), a public institution that is the beneficiary and manager of the funds disbursed to mitigate the effects of Covid-19, incurred expenses totalling 1,709,747,851.72 meticais (€24.2 million) – an amount “of which there was no evidence of the contracted services being paid for, which constitutes misappropriation of funds.”
The audit also states that undue payments totalling more than 78.6 million meticais (€1.1 million) and ineligible expenses totalling 25 million meticais (€354,000) were made.
READ: Mozambique: Court orders misappropriated Covid funds to be repaid
Mozambique: Anti-corruption watchdog investigates Covid-19 fund management – Notícias
Among other things, the Administrative Tribunal draws attention to contracts not submitted for prior inspection totalling more than 57.3 million meticais (€811,000), irregularities in the contracting process totalling more than 100.1 million meticais (€1.4 million) and a lack of supporting documents for expenditure totalling 11.7 million meticais (€165,700).
The document recalls that in view of the effects of Covid-19 on the economy, Mozambique’s government drew up a “needs plan” budgeted at $700 million (€633.5 million), of which $100 million (€90.5 million) was for prevention and treatment, $200 million (€181 million) to support the state budget, $240 million (€219 million) for transfers to families and $160 million (€145 million) for micro-enterprises.
“In this regard, the government applied for a loan from the International Monetary Fund in April 2020 and requested support from cooperation partners to cover the needs,” the document reads.
The audit concludes by saying that the “deficiencies” found in the process of control and management of these funds “contributed to the Financial Statements having material distortions” – namely the “deficient communication regarding the purpose of the disbursements made” by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the “deficient implementation, or non-existence of mechanisms” of control, the “deficiency in the organisation of archives and records of accountability processes.”
It also highlights a “lack of effective mechanisms to ensure that the selection of suppliers of goods and services complies with the procurement rules in force in the country [or] that contractors, during the construction of public infrastructure, comply with the technical specifications set out in the tender documents.”
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