E67.6 million for elderly grants missing at DPM’s Office
MBABANE – Over E67 million allocated for the disbursement of elderly grants is missing at the Social Welfare Department, under the Deputy Prime Minister’s (DPM’s) Office.
There are about 81 000 elderly people in the country, who receive E500 per month from government as a social grant.
The Auditor General (AG) Timothy Matsebula, in his Financial Audit Report for the year ended March 31, 2023, said the missing cash had been accumulating over the years, since it was initially discovered in 2010.
The AG said he had reported to the principal secretary in the DPM’s Office that there was missing cash, amounting to E67 671 963.88, under the Department of Social Welfare, since the financial year 2010.
Distributed
The cash was received by the officials as cash imprest to be distributed as elderly grants in constituencies, and was not retired against the wage advance.
“In the fiscal year 2010, from the disbursements of elderly grants, cash amounting to E26 941 081.70 went missing, and the missing cash had then accumulated over the financial years to E67 671 963.88, with no recoveries from the officers who received the cash,” the AG said in his report.
He also noted that there was unauthorised movement of budget in the Wages Suspense Account of the ministry to cover for another missing E9 200.
Budget
“I further reported that a budget was moved from Uniform Recurrent Expenditure Item 06601 to the Wages Advance Suspense Account number 50204, in order to clear a missing cash amount of E9 200, relating to wages advance, under the Lubombo Regional Administrator,” the AG said.
The allegations are contained in the AG’s report, which was tabled in Parliament on Monday, and are yet to verified.
Another budget was also moved from Printing Services Recurrent Expenditure Item 04401 to the Wages Advance Suspense Account number 50204, in order to clear missing cash worth E4 500 relating to wages advance, under the Children Department.
Matsebula also discovered that unrecovered cash amounting to E13 700 was fraudulently cancelled on the wages advance account and the recurrent expenditures against the cash were retired and posted under the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office, instead of the Treasury Department, where the initial cash advances were issued.
“This has created a fictitious liability due to mis-postings and irregular cancellation of the wages advances. In both instances, these were not only diversion of funds, but they were fraudulent acts, that were not investigated by the DPM’s Office and reported to the police,” he said.
Mis-posting is an accounting term referring to a bad or wrong posting in accounting books.
Matsebula said when he asked the principal secretary about this, he stated that these outstanding cash advances were retired and submitted to the Accountant General’s Office; however, that office could not retire the advances because of an audit finding.