Mmegi

Precious thebes still slip through gov’t fingers

Ndaba Gaolathe..PIC PHATSIMO KAPENG
Ndaba Gaolathe..PIC PHATSIMO KAPENG

The Accountant General’s office lost P8.1 million in 2016 to “systemic fraud”, but a decade later, rather than some effort at recovery, authorities are still waiting for the “outsourcing of external forensic auditors to come up with an independent report”.

At the Veterinary Services Department, a former employee “promised to pay back” P230,442 stolen between 2010 and 2014. The former employee has been making the same promise over the years.

The latest troubling glimpse into the state of public finances is contained in the Accountant General's latest statement of government accounts, released last week. The report covers the financial year to March 2023 and indicates the continuation of many lapses in public finance oversight noted in previous statements.

Editor's Comment
Let the courts follow the money

“Law and order are the medicine of the body politic and when the body politic gets sick, medicine must be administered.”– B.R. AmbedkarThe amount of money at play threatens to test the integrity of the country’s financial system, giving more reason to why the courts must be fully given leeway to lean on the matter and reach a conclusion.Botswana has spent decades building her reputation as a stable and credible financial jurisdiction.The...

Have a Story? Send Us a tip
arrow up