Iringa municipal directed to respond to 45 CAG queries

23Jun 2023
Friday Simbaya
Business
The Guardian
Iringa municipal directed to respond to 45 CAG queries

Iringa Regional Commissioner Halima Dendego has instructed the Iringa Municipal Council to respond to 45 audit issues raised by the Controller Auditor General (CAG), including more than 217mn/- that were not deposited to the bank.

RC Dendego issued the directives when discussing the audit queries of the CAG for the financial year 2021/22 for the municipal council. 

She said that the council should respond to the arguments and ensure that all those involved in mismanagement of public funds are taken legal and disciplinary action. 

Dendogo explained that basically the existence of many audit queries by the office of the CAG shows that there is negligence in public funds management, which hinders the development of the municipality. 

She also asked the council to ensure that 217mn/- which are collections were supposed to be deposited to the bank are deposited immediately, as current report shows only 12.5mn/- have so far been sent to the municipal’s bank account. 

"Basically, the collected funds should be sent to the bank, so that they follow the procedure of how to spend them in accordance with the public funds expenditure directives,” she explained. 

Regarding the procurement of goods and services, RC Dendego asked the council to follow official financial regulations and procedures. 

According to the CAG audits for the year 2020/21, the Iringa municipal council purchased of equipment worth 264mn/- was done contrary to article 68 of the local government financial memoranda of 2009. 

"I order to ensure that this matter is not happening again, ensure that all the people involved with mismanagement of public funds are taken legal measures," claimed Dendego. 

Earlier on, Iringa Regional Administrative Secretary Engineer Leonard Masanja asked the Iringa municipal council councilors to ensure that CAG's audit queries are answered. 

"My brothers and sisters, honorable councilors, as you are the managers of all the revenue and expenditure procedures of the council, make sure that the CAG’s arguments are answered...," he said. 

Masanja added that the councilors, as the chief managers of all the council's development programs, they are directly responsible for the CAG's arguments. 

He asked the councilors to discuss the arguments in detail and ensure that they are resolved because the arguments are not solved through words, rather than actions. 

The Iringa municipal council Mayor Ibrahim Ngwada has accused the previous regime, led by Chadema councilors for generating 80 percent of the current council’s debt. 

He briefly explained the projects that generated debts for the council including the modern Mlandege market and the Main Bus Stand in Igumbilo.

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