After more than P10 million disappeared from the fund the previous financial year, the Auditor General has reported once again that expenditure worth over P6 million cannot be accounted for. The latest report from the Auditor General says that audit attempts to verify expenditures of P6,281,287 from the Office of the President-based fund had not been successful because of the non-availability of the supporting vouchers and other details. The report explains that the vouchers were said to be in the districts, which had incurred the disaster-related expenditures. However, the Auditor General doubts whether the payments were made for the purposes the fund was set-up for. The report faults the fund for contribution P1 million towards disaster relief assistance to Haiti earthquake victims. The Auditor General says money from the fund is strictly for disasters in Botswana. The report says that financial assistance to disaster victims outside the country should come from the 'contribution to international appeals' vote under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The National Disaster Relief Fund has increasingly come under the spotlight after 2008 when it was revealed that up to P19 million was siphoned from its coffers to the then newly established state spy agency, the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS). Last year, talk was rife that the P10 million missing from the fund had been diverted to DIS again and the authorities did not help matters by failing to explain where the money went. The Auditor General says that as of April 2007, the fund had P31 million but in March 2010 this had been depleted to P9 million.
