Audit committees as an oversight of public funds: A gap in the Lupane local authority

Internal audit is an independent and objective evaluation of an organisation’s systems and operations with the view of improving the effectiveness of risk management, control and governance processes. It is therefore the backbone of an organisation. Allegedly, this has not been the case with Lupane District’s two councils namely Kusile Rural District Council (KRDC) and Lupane Local Board (LLB).

Tax payers have expressed  great concern that there are no clear structures that govern the management of public resources leading to duty bearers’ lack of  transparency and accountability to the public.

Mr David Nyathi, chairperson of the Lupane Residents Association revealed that the Lupane town council has no proper channels in place for people to air their grievances to the management and this has led to residents of Lupane being kept in the dark on issues that they should be privy to. Having reliable councillors and an effective audit committee would be a strong entry point to the representation of  people. He noted that this was urgently needed in urban Lupane.

“Lupane local board has no councillors, instead we have 3 Caretakers whom we rarely interact with and they seem to be pursuing their own interests at the expense of the public. The absence of a fully-fledged audit committee affects service delivery as there is nobody to track and oversee that public resources are channelled into planned activities efficiently and effectively. Having such a body will facilitate transparency, hold duty bearers accountable and guard against corruption as there have been allegations of inappropriate procedures being followed in the procurement of goods” said Nyathi.   

In Zimbabwe, public  audit is governed by the Public Finance Management Act Chapter 22:19 of 2009. Institution audits should ensure that there is timely preparation of reliable financial reports and statements to ensure accuracy and completeness of the accounting records.

Kusile Rural District Council has an operational audit committee and an internal auditor. However its effectiveness has been questioned. Mr Nyathi asserted that for these bodies to be effective, they should constituted by people who are able to read and interpret financial statements, people who are able to identify organisational risks and be able to suggest policies and solutions to such risks. People who understand their role in the committees and understand the legal frameworks that govern the work they do including the Constitution of Zimbabwe and the Public finance and management Act. 

He further said that it is sad that some members of the audit committee lack such skills and can be manipulated easily thus leading to residents’ lack of appreciation for the audit committees.

Miss Nobuhle Nyathi a Lupane resident said, “Audit committees ought to be independent but this is not happening with our council. The auditor attends some management meetings and therefore may be compromised in the process. The feeling is that his decision making may be clouded which would in turn affect the execution of his duties. Being part of the management affects the independence of the internal auditor”.

However, the Board Chairperson for LLB Mrs Monica Ngwenya said that as an authority they only have a finance committee that is being chaired by Professor Pardon Kuipa of Lupane State University (LSU) who is also one of the LLB caretakers. She further added that they do not have an audit committee or internal auditor in place but rely on outsourcing auditors, which she said was a headache and an expense to the teething local authority.

She further highlighted that the situation may lead to lax expenditure and financial indiscipline by  LLB officials, as some of the ills are only picked up or revealed only by the external audit.

“It becomes so difficult to pick some indiscipline within our staff as that can only be picked by the external audit since we do not have one in place”, said Mrs Ngwenya.  

Sothani Ward resident Margaret Ncube revealed that as rural residents they were not appraised on any financial or audit reports, but they are usually consulted only during budget consultations and never get to know anything on budget performance.

 The Kusile RDC Chief Executive Officer, Mr Christopher Chuma, the council accounting officer, was not reachable for a comment as he was said to be out of office.

Mrs Florence Ndlovu a human rights and governance consultant said that accountability should be the backbone of any organisation and that taxpayers should see development in their communities.

 “I urge the councils of Lupane to practise transparency and accountability and to also protect  public resources by showing how resources are spent and develop the district. Councils should cut on fiscal leakages leading to underdevelopment. Proper structures and legal frameworks should be followed on how funds should be administered”