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Forensic audit takes off

Chafunya: This is the most critical process
Chafunya: This is the most critical process

British forensic auditors who arrived in Malawi last week have started to comb through the Malawi Government financial system to establish how the government lost billions of kwacha through theft at Capital Hill.

According to the action plan which has been shared by Malawi Government agencies and donors, a report of this preliminary forensic audit would be out in January 2014 after which a comprehensive forensic audit would be undertaken.

National Audit Office (NAO) spokesperson Thomas Chafunya told The Nation on Monday that some work had already started following the completion and agreement on Terms of References (ToRs) for the exercise.

He said: “The team arrived last week and some work has already started. Malawians must know that this is the most critical process, the Auditor General’s Office and National Audit Office request for patience while the local and international experts are conducting their work.”

The exercise is expected to isolate illegal financial dealings such as money laundering and corruption after which institutions such as Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) would prosecute.

The forensic audit will go back to 2006 when the government payment system, the Integrated Financial Management Information System (Ifmis) was first installed as an accounting system.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has asked the Ministry of Finance to take up some of its recommendations on resumption of Ifmis which was shut down on October 1 this year to pave the way for correction of shortfalls which might have led to the thefts.

PAC chairperson Beatrice Mwangonde said in its initial report after consultations with the AG, ACB, Chief Secretary to the Government and Accountant General, the committee recommended that Ifmis should not be resumed until the version is upgraded and a comprehensive study on possible loopholes in the new version is conducted.

The committee is expected to present another report to Parliament which would incorporate recommendations from the whole House, excluding input from a meeting with the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) governor, whose office has been identified to be at the heart of the plunder in the civil service.

A meeting with the RBM governor failed to take place on Saturday due to logistical challenges.

In a related development, former ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has asked government to reveal the identity of the forensic auditors, saying revealing their nationalities is not enough.

In a press statement, DPP secretary general Jean Kalilani, whose party was in power when the system was introduced, said the forensic audit will help in flushing out the culprits and deliver the nation from the consuming cancer of cash-gate and put the country back on a path of genuine and sustainable national development.

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