HARARE — Parliament has raised concerns over unresolved financial discrepancies in the Transport and Infrastructural Development Ministry’s accounts after the Auditor-General issued a qualified audit opinion on the ministry’s 2024 financial statements.
A report by Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Transport and Infrastructural Development said the audit identified several unreconciled balances, delayed contractor payments and weaknesses in financial reporting, although the ministry had begun addressing some of the issues.
Among the findings, the Auditor-General reported that the ministry’s expenditure records contained an unreconciled variance of ZiG788.4 million between its Sub Paymaster General’s Account and the Appropriation Account.
The audit also found that Treasury had made US$255.7 million in direct payments to service providers on behalf of the ministry, but the ministry had recorded only US$145.1 million, leaving US$110.6 million unreconciled. The ministry said it was waiting for Treasury to release the relevant budget support to clear the variance.
The Auditor-General further reported that ZiG302.3 million in unallocated reserves received from Treasury had not been reconciled in the ministry’s accounts. The ministry said Treasury was best placed to explain the discrepancy and had been asked for clarification.
The report also noted that delayed payments to contractors resulted in the ministry incurring US$46,304 in interest charges on overdue accounts after failing to settle contract obligations worth US$14.1 million on time. The ministry attributed the delays to funding constraints and said it continued to engage Treasury to ensure contractors were paid promptly.
In addition, the ministry carried arrears of ZiG449.3 million that could not be settled because Treasury had not provided adequate funding.
Despite the findings, the parliamentary committee said many of the issues stemmed from Treasury’s processing of direct payments and inadequate budget support rather than failures within the ministry itself.
“The Committee noted that the Ministry’s issue on expenditure variances arose due to the processing of direct payments and lack of budget support by Treasury,” the report said.
It added that the ministry was now complying with statutory reporting deadlines under the Public Finance Management Act after strengthening internal monitoring systems.
