Public billions remain idle, millions misused12
Spira Tlhankane | Monday May 4, 2026 09:33
A sweeping review report exposes a pattern of dysfunction across multiple government funds, with money not used, not tracked, and spent outside its intended purpose. Taken together, the findings reveal not isolated lapses but a systemic breakdown in the governance of public funds. Across several funds, money has remained untouched for years.
According to the report, the Debt Participation Capital Fund has had no activity since 2015. The purpose of the Fund is to service loans that have been prepaid by commercial enterprises and loans that have been converted into equity by the government. “Cash held by Accountant General as at 31 March 2023 was P9 153 713. There has been no movement in the Fund since 2015, indicating it has remained dormant for an extended period. The continued dormancy of the Fund raises concerns regarding its relevance, operational effectiveness, and the efficiency of public resource utilisation. Idle balances held over several years may point to the absence of active programme implementation or a lack of periodic review of fund objectives,” the Auditor General revealed in the report.
The Auditor General added that this situation suggests the need for policy reassessment to determine whether the Fund’s purpose remains valid, and whether unutilised resources could be repurposed or reallocated to priority areas of economic development. Similarly, the Housing Fund, created to support housing development, has accumulated tens of millions without being utilised meaningfully.
“In the past, my predecessors’ reports on this Fund indicated that it had remained largely inactive since inception. In 2018/2019, no expenditure had been incurred except for a one-off payment of P531 915 to the UN-Habitat Secretariat, made following a government decision, with subsequent payments intended to be funded through normal budgetary processes over the following five years. The 2019/2020 report similarly noted that the Fund remained inactive, and the reasons for non-utilisation could not be established,” the report further stated. The Auditor General indicated that the prolonged inactivity has resulted in idle funds, which may delay housing project implementation and the delivery of benefits to intended recipients, while raising concerns regarding the effectiveness and utilisation of the Fund. The Housing Fund was established under Statutory Instrument No. 15 of 2015. Its purpose is to receive, maintain, and utilise funds made available to it or earned by it, in order to support either wholly or partially the development of housing for intended beneficiaries in Botswana. Beneficiaries are identified by the Government from time to time.
Even the President’s Housing Appeal Fund, meant to assist the most vulnerable, recorded no movement at all during the year, according to the report. “As at 31 March 2023, the Fund held a balance of P900 112 with no movement reported since the previous financial year. The inactivity of the Fund raises concerns regarding the timeliness of housing interventions and the effective use of resources for the intended beneficiaries”.
The President Housing Appeal Fund was established by Statutory Instrument No. 20 of 2019 for the purpose of constructing basic housing for destitute persons and maintenance of dilapidated houses for such beneficiaries. The Fund is essentially a continuation and successor to the Presidential Housing Appeal, which was previously administered as a housing campaign under the Ministry of Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration. The report further disclosed that when inactivity is one problem, lack of oversight is another. The audit found that several funds are operating without legally required management committees, therefore, effectively without supervision.
In the case of the Housing Fund, the report revealed that since its inception, the Housing Fund has operated without a Fund Management Committee, contrary to Paragraph 6 of the Housing Fund Order (Statutory Instrument No. 15 of 2015), which provides that the Minister shall appoint a Fund Management Committee, after consultation with the Accounting Officer.
“The Fund Management Committee is intended to provide oversight and strategic direction for the administration, disbursement, and investment of the Fund. The absence of a formally appointed Committee raises serious concerns about the Fund's governance and accountability. Without structured oversight, Fund activities may be subject to inconsistent decision-making, non-compliance with statutory provisions, arbitrary disbursement and investment practices, as well as increased risk of mismanagement or misuse of public funds,” noted the Auditor General.
The report further highlighted that the same issue affects other funds, including the Road Traffic Fines Fund and the Confiscated Assets Trust Fund. The report pointed out that the Road Traffic Fines Fund did not have a Fund Management Committee in place, contrary to Section 6 of the Road Traffic Fines Order, 2023. “The absence of a formally appointed committee raises concerns regarding oversight of Fund activities, including the determination of disbursement and investment strategies. Without structured oversight, fund activities may not be properly monitored or aligned with intended objectives, increasing the risk of resource inefficiency.
While some funds lie idle, others are simply failing to perform. According to the Auditor General, the National Environmental Fund had ambitious funding targets of up to P120 million, yet disbursed less than 1% of that amount. “The NEF had targeted funding allocations of P90 million for the year 2022, and P120 million for the year 2023, as outlined in the draft Strategy and Action Plan (2020 – 2027). Despite these targets, the NEF Board approved a budget of P8.5 million on 27 September 2022 for the year under review. Of this amount, only P885 940 was disbursed to the Ramokgwebana Development Trust for a land reclamation project, which was not a new initiative. This expenditure represents only 0.9% of the targeted funding, indicating that no new projects were financed during the 2022/2023 financial year,” the report stated.
The Auditor General also noted that the significant underutilisation of planned funds suggests delays in project identification, approval, or implementation, thereby limiting the Fund’s contribution to achieving its environmental conservation and management objectives. Perhaps the most alarming findings relate to the Guardians Fund, which holds money in trust for beneficiaries. The audit uncovered serious irregularities, including anomalies in depositors' accounts, multiple depositors' accounts, differences in interest computation, negative interest balances on depositors' accounts, and manual interest calculations without supporting documentation. While some funds are idle or chaotic, others are being actively diverted away from their intended use. The Road Levy Collections Fund, meant to finance road maintenance, spent nearly P700 million on unrelated activities. These included fuel purchases, transfers to other government departments, and financial support to Air Botswana.
The Auditor General noted, “During the year, expenditures totalling P697 054 765.91 were incurred outside the Fund’s primary purpose, including transfers to the Department of Government Fleet Management (P170 027 887.17) for fuel purchases, financial support to Air Botswana (P91 000 000), and the National Petroleum Fund (P436 026 878.74). These expenditures were authorised by the Minister of Finance in terms of Section 40(2) of the Public Finance Management Act. While legally approved, such transfers reduce the funds available to directly achieve the Fund’s core objectives.
Across all these cases, a pattern emerges that funds are not used, not monitored and not aligned with their purpose. In some cases, funds were not even properly accounted for, and the Auditor General repeatedly points to weak controls, lack of enforcement, and gaps in governance structures.