Binga council fails to produce US-dollar cashbook as ZWG$19.72m debt figure goes unverified
Local Authorities Watch
BINGA — Binga Rural District Council failed to provide its United States-dollar bank-account cashbook for audit and could not support ZWG$19.72 million recorded as receivables, the Auditor-General has said.
The audit of the council’s 2024 accounts found that the absence of the US-dollar cashbook prevented auditors from examining transactions on the account.
The Auditor-General said this created a risk of financial loss through fraud and could materially misstate the council’s financial statements.
The council also reported receivables of ZWG$19.72 million without producing a listing to show who owed the money or to support the balance.
Auditors said the failure meant they could not verify the completeness and accuracy of the reported debt.
Binga RDC was also faulted for recognising levy and business-licence revenue on a cash basis because it did not have a billing system. The Auditor-General said revenue should have been recognised on an accrual basis.
The council received a qualified audit opinion.
Management said it would make cashbooks available for future audits. It also said it was improving billing through the Local Authorities Digital System and planned to operationalise a debt-management section.
Source: Auditor-General’s Report on Local Authorities, Binga Rural District Council 2024, pp. 189–191.
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