Council calls for external auditor
Nsanje District Council has asked the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to intervene in an audit report on mismanagement of funds, saying the council is not satisfied with the report.
A few weeks ago, Nsanje district commissioner (DC) Reinghard Chavula asked the National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC) to conduct an audit at the council following reports that some officials had embezzled funds between December and February this year following the death, last December, of Gift Rapozo, then DC.
In an interview on Thursday, Chavula said the council management is not satisfied with the audit report, saying it contradicts with what is in the council bank accounts. She has asked the line ministry to find external auditors to conduct an independent audit.
“We have requested the ministry to intervene because we are not satisfied with the report. The report indicates that we have K90 to K100 million in our bank accounts but we are failing to access the money as bank statements indicate that we have insufficient funds. The audit report was supposed to tell us why there are no funds, who used the money, how was it used and for what purposes,” said Chavula.
The development follows reports of poor finance management in local councils, with cases of non-compliance of basic accounting systems and failure to follow orders from NLGFC.
The affected funds include Local Development Fund (LDF), Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and District Development Fund (DDF).
Chavula said the council has become a difficult working environment as it is failing to implement developmental projects.
“We are in a difficult situation and it is a difficult working environment where people are expecting to be served but we have no money. The councillors, MPs and the public at large are disgruntled because they were expecting developments which will not be implemented,” she said.
Secretary for the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development Kiswell Dakamau confirmed receiving a request from the council to intervene on the matter.
He said the NLGFC sent two qualified internal auditors from other councils to conduct an audit at Nsanje district council, but the report did not please the council management; hence, the request for a fresh audit by external auditors.
