By Linda Kwanjana
On 21 February 2014 Baker Tilly issued a Forensic Audit Report on Fraud and Mismanagement of Malawi
Government Finances (the “February 2014” report) which reported that at MK
13,671,396,751 of Malawi Government funds had been identified as being potentially misappropriated.
The figure which was misappropriated was
arrived at using defined testing criteria and a detailed analysis of 11 of the main Government bank accounts.
The review identified both ‘Cashgate’ and non-Cashgate transactions. In this context nonCashgate items were noted as transactions that related to unsupported payments and/or poor procurements.
The report identified payments to 16 companies, valued at MK 6,096,490,705, where no evidence had been provided to support the provision of goods or services in relation to the payments made.
As such MK 6,096,490,705 was classified as potential theft of Government Funds which should be the subject of appropriate legal action.
A further 50 companies were then identified for further detailed work. Baker Tilly Audit work also identified high value payments made to two newly formed companies.
The contracts awarded did not appear to represent value for money and price verification with other suppliers enabled us to identify MK 3,619,539,979 that, at best had been spent inappropriately or at
worst, had been stolen.
Additional payments totalling MK 3,955,366,067 were also made to the same two companies. At the time of our February 2014 report no supporting evidence had been provided in relation to these
payments.
So in summery 6,096,490,705 was plundered with no service at all while the country lost K3,955,366,067 through payments with no supporting documents.
According to the report K3,619,539,979 vanished through Inflated procurement prices.
CALL TO ACTION
Governance and economic expert Dr Ben Dzolowere says there is need for Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) to accomplish the dealing of suspects exercise which they already started.
Dzolowere rebuked ACB for not utilizing the political will which President Chakwera has demonstrated in fighting corruption.
He there is need for everyone who is implicated into cashgate face the arm of the law.
 which reported that at…){kind=link}