Rwf3.2b for expenditure not accounted for, says auditor
Sunday May 29 2022
A branch of WASAC (formerly EWSA) in Muhima. EWSA was among the state institutions accused in the Auditor-General’s Report of misappropriation of funds. PHOTO | CYRIL NDEGEYA
About Rwf3.2 billion in expenditure for financial year that ended in June 2021 cannot be accounted for, says the auditor general, putting the blame on expenditure that was unsupported, partially supported, wasteful or diverted.
Presenting the findings to both houses of Parliament recently, Auditor General Alexis Kamuhire reported that only 48 percent of entities implemented the recommendations provided in the previous year.
The auditor general has warned of prosecution for those who do not act on the recommendations from his office. In 2021, Rwf45 million was diverted, Rwf1.6 billion was wasted and the remaining Rwf1.4 billion was unsupported, totaling to Rwf3.2 billion spent against public interest.
The auditor general report reveals that eight projects worth Rwf965 milion have been abandoned by contractors while 11 projects worth Rwf102.9 million have stalled completely, including the upgrade of Base-Butaro-Kidaho road and construction of the ultramodern Kacyiru hospital.
Stolen funds
It also reveals an embezzlement of Rwf2.5 billion. This includes tourism revenues collected using manual payments and never deposited to designated Rwanda Development Board bank accounts, and tuition fees payment by the Rwanda Basic Education Board (REB) for Rwandan students in Nigeria diverted to unknown persons.
More embezzlement cases involved medication that went missing from the Rwanda Medical Supply warehouse and consultancy payment made to the personal account of a former employee of the University of Rwanda.
The auditor also unveiled cases of computers that were supposed to be used by pupils and teachers but were gathering dust in school stores. GS Rwimpiri, for example, received 150 Positivo computers worth Rwf41.78 million from REB on February 19, 2021, but none has been used yet.
There were also cases of poor-quality equipment bought for the Rwanda Polytechnic and at an inflated price. The report detailed malpractices in the Water and Sanitation Corporation (Wasac) confirming that since its inception in July 2014, the firm has been making losses that cumulatively stood at Rwf19.1 billion as of June 30, 2021.
The report shows non-compliance with laws and regulations declined from 30 percent in 2019 to 27 percent in 2021.