Accounting officers should be held accountable

Mmegi Editor | Thursday June 12, 2025 12:36

Particular trepidations lie with the seemingly embedded nature of embellishing tender sums, in most cases without the barest minimum of authority. The worrying thing is that the inflated amounts run into millions of pula across the government ministries and departments. The Auditor General’s report of March ending 2022, which we cover extensively in this edition, paints a gloomy picture on management of the government coffers. It depicts the poor state of accountability and recklessness in spending patterns by the government. We see sealed and duly issued tender sums rising to scaring levels. The Auditor General has raised many questions some of which could not be properly responded to even at the recently ended parliamentary oversight body, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) by the accounting officers, reflecting a sustained recklessness in the handling of public funds.

Just under the noses of the accounting officers, tender sums were doubled and tripled, in most cases, without any reasonable cause. One of the accounting officers is subject of investigation by the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) after failing to account for an alleged embellished tender.

At the PAC it was also shocking when some of the accounting officers could only at best, conceded to the frets raised by the members of the PAC, that they were not doing enough or nothing at all in providing the requisite net to guard against waste in the public service. It was apparent that some of the accounting officers were not even aware of the rot happening under their noses. We are tempted to believe that state funds in some instances are not in safe hands, as some of the top civil servants were seemingly not closely supervising their charges. At the end of the 61st session of the PAC, the UDC-led government has to go to the drawing board and ensure there is tight supervision of the accounting officers as some of them have been simply sleeping on the job. The ineptitude displaced by the civil servants in some cases threatens to diametrically bring the economy to its knees at a time when Botswana is critically facing serious cash flow challenges.

In this edition we report extensively on the Auditor General’s report in our quest to appreciate how government has been spending public funds through ministries and departments. From our reports it is apparent that even accounting officers trusted with decision-making, were in some instances found wanting.

The accounting officers have been seemingly porous allowing questionable expenditure to simply pass without proper scrutiny. We now understand why President Boko has been insisting on direct tendering although it’s not the best method to address endemic corruption allegedly rocking the country through tendering processes. The UDC-led government should halt the bleeding, as all indications are that the evergreen Botswana political boat can’t float anymore. The country is broke and the worst could hit us.

‘Fiscal prudence is very important.Share this Quote’– Smriti Irani