Permanent Secretary for Finance, George Guvamatanga, says the Auditor General's office misdirected itself in its 2023 report, which revealed the government was paying millions for undelivered goods.
"The auditor should have told the public that the government knew about this before and was acting," Guvamatanga said, adding that there should be "no need for this excitement about the undelivered cars."
The 2023 report, recently tabled before Parliament by Auditor General Rhea Kujinga, reviewed government payments for undelivered goods ranging from cars to office furniture.
On Monday, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube and his secretary, George Guvamatanga, met the Clemence Chiduwa-led Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Budget and Finance during a familiarization tour of the ministry, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, and the Zimbabwe Development Agency (ZIDA).
Guvamatanga explained that the Treasury's central internal audit unit, which coordinates audit functions in the government, had already flagged the procurement lapse insisting that the Auditor General should have mentioned this in the report.
"By highlighting it as a finding, I can safely say the Office of the Auditor General misdirected themselves. I'm not saying they shouldn't have highlighted them, but they should have said the government discovered that there were undelivered vehicles," he argued.
However, contrary to Guvamatanga's criticism, the Auditor General's audits allow departments to respond to findings. Comments are added below each finding, but in some flagged cases, officials did not respond.
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Government officials and some suppliers refute claims of corruption, blaming currency depreciation for the non-delivery of goods.
In some cases, they previously said the amount paid by the government in Zimdollars was insufficient to cover the entire order due to currency devaluation.
Guvamatanga informed MPs that the government bought 167 cars last year, with 20 still outstanding.
He highlighted that it wasn't just vehicles that were missing. "We also had ICT equipment, office equipment, and even provisions. People would buy drinks, biscuits, which were never delivered? Where are the biscuits? We had things like various medical equipment."
He reiterated that the internal audit unit had already uncovered the undelivered goods.
"So, all we are saying is that we'll need to align the work of the Auditor General with that of the centralized internal audit. At the moment, the Auditor General is still operating as if we don't have a centralized internal audit unit. But we will align them, to make sure that the reports are delivered speedily, and issues that are already known are not reported as if they are new issues. There's no need for this excitement about motor vehicles," said Guvamatanga.
