The Auditor General of State finances, Alexis Kamuhire, will this afternoon present to Parliament the annual audit report findings for the 2021/2022 fiscal year, which ended on June 30 last year, according to communication from Parliament. It will be a joint parliamentary session in which legislators of both Chambers – the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies – will be present. ALSO READ: Officials discuss Auditor General's findings In order to meet its mandate, the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) carries out three main audits, namely financial, compliance and performance audits – whose findings are compiled in the annual reports it produces. Also, it performs IT (Information Technology) and special audits. The financial statements audit determines whether the financial statements of the entity in question were prepared in accordance with applicable financial reporting and regulatory framework, and they do provide clear information regarding the financial situation and performance of institutions. For compliance audit, it is performed by assessing whether financial transactions and activities are, in all material respects, in compliance with the authorities which govern the audited entity. These authorities may include rules, laws and regulations, budgetary resolutions, policies, agreed terms, and conduct of public officials. Regarding performance audit, it determines whether the audited entity carried out its activities in an effective, productive and cost-efficient manner with respect to value for money. Here, three aspects are considered, overall. They are efficiency consisting of “getting the most from available resources”, economy which focuses on “keeping cost low”, and effectiveness which is about “meeting the objectives set.” The Auditor General (AG) makes recommendations with a view to improve public finance management. While the effective implementation of these recommendations contributes to improved efficiency and value for money in the use of public funds, the trend on this aspect has been somewhat stagnant. For instance, in the financial year 2020-2021, of 4,996 recommendations that the AG had given to audited public entities, 2,384 were fully implemented, representing about 48 per cent of the total. Of the recommendations that were given to Boards and GBE (Government Business Enterprises), they fully put into action 398 recommendations or 45 per cent of 882 recommendations. For public hospitals, they fully put into practice 757 recommendations out of 1,878, implying 40 per cent implementation rate. ALSO READ: Auditor General speaks out on unimplemented recommendations Cases of unlawful expenses The AG’s 2020/2021 audit report revealed cases of unlawful expenditures – which include wasteful spending and fraudulent use of funds – which involved more than Rwf3.2 billion in 2021. However, the report indicated that the number of unnecessary or unlawful expenditure reported has been on the decline from more than Rwf8.6 billion in 2019 to more than Rwf5.6 billion in 2020 and more than Rwf3.2 billion in 2021. ALSO READ: Auditor General: Irregular expenditures reduced by 43% Persistent cases of delayed contracts According to the OAG, timely completion of government projects is crucial to saving costs, and to timely avail key services to citizens aimed at improving their living conditions as enshrined in the National Strategy for Transformation (NST1). However, over the years, it indicated, its audits reported delayed projects with national significance and recommended actions that can be taken to address root causes as a means of deterring the re-occurrence of similar incidents in the future. It reported 37 cases of delayed contracts worth over Rwf201 billion in 28 public entities and projects. This comprised 25 delayed contracts worth over Rwf89.9 billion identified during the year under audit, and 12 contracts worth Rwf111 billion from previous audits. Cases of stalled projects in public entities OAG also identified 11 projects worth Rwf102.9 billion that had stalled in nine public entities. Contracts for these projects had been terminated due to non-performance, budget constraints, or delay in execution. It is expected that the new AG’s report to be presented to Parliament will provide an update on such cases.
