Audit reveals abuse of alcohol levy

It has emerged that the P75 million allocated to the Department of Youth in the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture in the last financial year was mainly used to run the day-to-day business of the department, and not the anti-alcohol campaign initiatives the money was meant for, the Auditor General Report for 2010-11 has revealed.

A further P30 million was used to purchase supplies from Central Medical Stores (CMS). The Auditor General notes that while his observations are not an audit of the Alcohol Levy Fund, he has perused the books to check whether the money was used for its intended purpose and found that the committee responsible for the fund was usually not consulted and did not ask the various beneficiaries to account for the funds.