By CATHERINE NYIRENDA –

THE Government in 2013 exceeded its budgetary allocation by more than K500 million, the latest Auditor General’s report on Republic Accounts has revealed.
The expenditure was above the authorised provision of K3 billion.
Auditor General (AG) Anna Chifungula has also released the report revealing financial and other irregularities by public institutions with the highest case being non-remittance of statutory contributions amounting to K142 million.
Public relations officer in the office of the AG, Ellen Chakale, announced the release of the two reports which were submitted to Parliament on February 6, 2015 for consideration.
According to the report on Republic Accounts, an excess expenditure of K501,234,551 was recorded above the authorised provision of K2,985,788,318.
The excess expenditure required the passing of the Excess Expenditure Appropriation Act to normalise the situation.
The report also highlights unaccounted-for stores as the highest irregularity amounting to K72 million followed by unvouchered expenditure at K67 million.
“Unvouchered expenditure is where payment vouchers are not availed for audit because they are either missing or inadequately supported and this is worrying to us as it may be a means of concealing wrong doing,” reads part of the report.
The AG’s office carried out 143 audits for the financial year 2013 of which 57 were fully resolved leaving a balance of 86 unresolved.
The report also includes a paragraph on the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and the grants to local authorities under the Ministry of Local Government and Housing which were previously produced as a separate report.
Outstanding in the CDF paragraph was the failure to undertake activities that were funded amounting to K80,371,244.
The report highlights amounts totalling K7,172,536,611 as revenue that should have been collected by revenue collecting institutions but was not collected due to various weaknesses in the collection chain.
The audit report for public institutions highlights some financial and other irregularities, including non-remittance of statutory contributions at K142,500,133 followed by inadequately supported payments at K6,479,256.
It highlights missing payment vouchers at K5,985,901 with unretired imprest standing at K3,892,884 while unaccounted-for funds were at K997,261.
Irregular payments and wasteful expenditure ranked the lowest at K156,611 and K26,100, respectively.
The institutions include the Development Bank of Zambia (DBZ), Judiciary, Zamtel, Patents and Companies Agency (PACRA), the Public Service Pension Fund Board (PSPFB), and MOFED Tanzania.
Others are Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company (LWSC) and Mukuba Hotel, Zambia Consolidated copper Mines-Investment Holdings (ZCCM-IH) Plc, Zambia Postal Services Corporation (ZAMPOST), Zambia National Building Society (ZNBS), the Local Superanuation Fund (LASF), Kitwe City Council, Nkana Water and Sewerage Company, Kafubu Water and Sewerage Company and Luapula Water and Sewerage Company.
The report also mentions institutions that had not produced audited financial statements for the 2013, among them, Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC), Times Printpak Zambia Limited, Zambia Institute of Advanced Legal Education (ZIALE), Zesco Limited, Energy Regulation Board (ERB), TAZAMA and Food Reserve Agency (FRA).
Others are Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia (NCZ), Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA), ZAMPOST, National Sports Council of Zambia, Mukuba Hotel, Zambia Education Publishing House, Livestock Development Trust and the Local Authorities Superanuation Fund (LASF), among others.
“The failure to produce audited financial statements is contrary to the law and implies that stakeholders are not able to know the actual performance of the institutions in question,” the report adds.