HARARE – A scathing audit report has exposed a massive financial mismanagement scandal within Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, revealing approximately US$702,938,963 in unaccounted or undocumented funds.
The audit findings highlight a litany of financial irregularities, including unaccounted foreign currency payments, uncleared transactions, undisclosed revenue, and substantial debts owed to suppliers and service providers, raising serious concerns about transparency, accountability, and governance within the Ministry.
More than US$84.5 million in direct foreign currency payments, made on behalf of the Ministry is unaccounted for in its financial records, according to the Auditor General (AG)’s report for the year ended December 31, 2024.
This sum, representing payments to service providers made directly by Treasury, was not uploaded into the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) and consequently not recognized in the Ministry’s financial statements due to a lack of proper documentation.
This omission has led to a material understatement of the Ministry’s total expenditure for the year.
In the “Basis for Qualified Opinion” section, the Auditor General recommended that the Ministry proactively liaise with Treasury to obtain necessary source documents, such as payment vouchers and invoices, to ensure timely and accurate accounting of all expenditures.
“Treasury made direct foreign currency payments to service providers on behalf of the Ministry amounting to US$84 578 833 (ZWG2 182 007 023) during the financial year 2024,” the AG noted.
“However, these transactions were not uploaded in the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) and were not recognised in the financial statements owing to lack of documentary evidence from Treasury.
“These transactions have remained unaccounted for in the Ministry’s financial records. Therefore, the expenditure disclosed in the Appropriation Account was incomplete and inaccurate.”
The Ministry, in its response, acknowledged that while some payments from Treasury require supporting documents for verification and capture in the PFMS, revised transfer schedules containing these transactions were not initially provided.
They stated that the variance only came to light during the audit and that verification is currently underway to approach Treasury for budgetary support to enable the capture of this expenditure.
The AG’s report also raised concerns about uncleared amounts. A significant amount of ZWG5,655,569,996 (US$219,207,364) was not cleared in the PFMS, potentially misstating the Appropriation Account and leading to ineffective budgetary control.
The report also revealed that unreconciled variances of ZWG6,041,185 and ZWG1,216,916 were noted between different revenue reports, indicating potential misstatements in returns.
The AG also raised the issue of lack of receipt books. Only two receipt books for November and December were provided for verification of revenue collected, raising concerns about unaccounted revenue.
The report noted that the Department of Mechanisation failed to disclose ZWG601,838,450 (US$23,328,429) in outstanding revenue from the sale of tractors and other farm machinery on credit.
The Ministry further owed suppliers and service providers ZWG9,696,270,525 (US$375,824,437), representing 83% of its total budget, raising risks of impaired service delivery and reputational damage.
Several instances of undelivered motor vehicles (with payments made as far back as 2022 and 2023) and unperformed work for which full payment was made (e.g., fowl run construction and fencing installation) were identified, indicating weaknesses in contract management and potential wasteful expenditure.
Investigations were not held for two Ministry vehicles involved in accidents, raising concerns about asset loss.
Meanwhile, after thorough calculations, Nehanda Radio established that audit findings reveal a staggering total of approximately US$702,938,963 in unaccounted or undocumented funds within the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development.
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