REPORT of the AUDITOR – GENERAL on the ACCOUNTS
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REPORT of the AUDITOR – GENERAL ON THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR ENDED 31st DECEMBER 2007 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Introduction..................................................................................................... 1 Audit Scope and Methodology....................................................................... 1 Institutional Development.............................................................................. 1 International Co-operation............................................................................ 1 Accountability of Public Funds...................................................................... 2 Limitation of Scope....................................................................................... 2 Outturn and Appropriation Accounts............................................................ 2 General Revenues.......................................................................................... 3 Zambia Revenue Authority........................................................................... 3 Exceptional Revenue – Ministry of Energy and Water Development........... 6 Fees and Fines – Ministry of Homes Affairs – Police ................................. 7 Exceptional Revenue – Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives.............. 9 Fees and Fines - Ministry of Energy and Water – Water Board.................. 9 Fees and Fines – Ministry of Mines and Mineral Development.................. 10 Fees and Fines – Ministry of Home Affairs – Immigration....................... 12 Fees and Fines – Ministry of Home Affairs – Passports............................. 13 Fees and Fines – Judiciary........................................................................... 15 Fees and Fines – Ministry of Communications and Transport – RTSA..... 17 Fees and Fines – Ministry of Lands............................................................ 25 Expenditures............................................................................................... 27 Zambia Police............................................................................................ 27 Ministry of Home Affairs – Headquarters................................................. 36 Ministry of Foreign Affairs....................................................................... 38 Loans & Investments – Ministry of Local Govt. & Housing.................... 45 Loans & Investments – Ministry of Finance and National Planning....... 48 i Ministry of Information & Broadcasting Services.................................... 50 Ministry of Local Government and Housing............................................ 54 Ministry of Finance and National Planning............................................... 64 Ministry of Community Development and Social Services..................... 69 Ministry of Health.................................................................................... 74 Ministry of Science, Technology and Vocational Training..................... 90 Ministry of Defence................................................................................ 99 Ministry of Education.............................................................................. 103 Ministry of Lands..................................................................................... 120 Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives.............................................. 122 Office of the President – Lusaka Province.............................................. 133 Office of the President – Copperbelt Province....................................... 134 Office of the President – Northern Province.......................................... 136 Office of the President – Western Province.......................................... 139 Office of the President – Eastern Province............................................ 145 Office of the President – Luapula Province........................................... 149 Office of the President – North Western Province................................ 152 Office of the President – Southern Province......................................... 166 Index...................................................................................................... 171 ii iii INTRODUCTION 1. This Report on the audit of the accounts of the Government of the Republic of Zambia for the financial year ended 31st December, 2007 is submitted to the President for tabling in the National Assembly in accordance with the provisions of Article 121 (4) of the Constitution of Zambia. AUDIT SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY 2. This Report is as a result of reviews, programmes of test checks, inspections and examination of accounting, stores, projects and other records maintained by public officers and others entrusted with the handling of public resources. The audit programmes were designed to give reasonable assurance of financial management to the Government and to enable me express an opinion on the financial statements for the year. They were also intended to provide information that would assist Parliament in its oversight responsibilities over the application of resources and execution of programmes by the Executive. Accordingly, the programmes were designed to highlight areas of weakness to facilitate formulation of recommendations by Parliament for remedial action by the Executive. In the course of preparing this report, each Controlling Officer was sent appropriate draft paragraphs for comments and confirmation of the correctness of the facts presented. Where the comments varied with the facts presented, and were proved to be valid, the affected draft paragraphs were amended accordingly. INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT 3. In paragraph 4 of the Report of the Auditor General on the accounts for the financial year ended 31st December 2006, mention was made of the construction of five new provincial offices and the extension of the Headquarters through the Public Expenditure Management and Financial Accountability (PEMFA) programme. It was also mentioned that works in Kasama, Mongu and Solwezi had been completed and that works on the extension of Headquarters had commenced. As at 31st December 2008, construction of all the provincial offices had been completed while works on the extension of Headquarters had reached an advanced stage. INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION 4. In paragraph 3 of the Report of the Auditor General on the accounts for the financial year ended 31st December 2006, mention was made of cooperation activities between the Office of the Auditor General of Zambia (OAGZ) and the Office of the Auditor General of Norway (OAGN) which resulted in the development and implementation of audit methodologies for information technology and performance audits in OAGZ. These activities have continued and in this regard, the OAGZ has signed a long term agreement with OAGN to cover the period from 2008 to 2012. Further, negotiations are 1 underway for the extension of the Restructuring and Institutional Development Project (RIDP). ACCOUNTABILITY OF PUBLIC FUNDS 5. According to the Public Finance Act No. 15 of 2004, the Minister responsible for finance shall, subject to the provisions of the Constitution and the Act, have management, supervision, control and direction of all matters relating to the financial, planning and the economic management of the Republic. The Minister is the head of the Office of the Treasury established under the Act and shall make policy and other decisions of the Treasury except those delegated under section six of the Act to the Secretary to the Treasury who shall exercise the powers of the Treasury. In exercising these powers, the Secretary to the Treasury designates in respect of each head of revenue or expenditure provided for in a financial year, an officer who shall be a Controlling Officer. The responsibilities of the Controlling Officers are outlined in section 7 (3) to (9) of the Act and include the preparation and submission of financial statements to the Auditor General for audit and certification before inclusion in the Financial Report. The audited financial statements are then submitted to the Secretary to the Treasury to enable him prepare the Annual Financial Report for tabling in the National Assembly by the Minister responsible for finance in accordance with the provisions of Article 118(1) of the Constitution of Zambia. LIMITATION OF SCOPE 6. Due to the restructuring exercise the Office undertook during the years from 2005 to 2007, 70% of its staff is new, thus placing enormous strain on the old staff that had to carry out on the job training. This has resulted in less audit coverage for the period under review. Further, the illness of two directors had impacted negatively on audit operations particularly on the Ministerial Appropriations Audit Directorate. OUTTURN AND APPROPRIATION ACCOUNTS 7. According to the provisions of Article 118 (1) of the Constitution, the Minister responsible for finance shall cause to be prepared and shall lay before the National Assembly not later than nine months after the end of each financial year, a financial report in respect of that year. A financial report in respect of a financial year shall include accounts showing the revenue and other moneys received by the Government in that financial year, the expenditure of the Government in that financial year other than expenditure charged by this Constitution or any other law on the general revenues of the Republic, the payments made in the financial year otherwise than for the purposes of expenditure, a statement of the financial