Government ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) are falling short of meeting their statutory mandates due to lack of adequate funding to undertake critical programmes and projects, latest findings have revealed.
In her latest 2024 report, acting Auditor-General (AG) Rheah Kujinga said there was a total 79% underutilisation of the budget due to inadequate funding by Treasury.
"Most of the government ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) struggled to meet their objectives due to insufficient funding," Kujinga noted.
"The underutilisation of the budget largely stemmed from inadequate cash support by the Treasury. This hurt the attainment of some programme goals and the quality of service delivery by the Ministries and Commissions.
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"Total approved budget for unallocated reserves was ZWG9 522 754 659. However, disbursements made to 32 MDAs amounted to ZWG14 547 940 934, resulting in an unauthorised excess of ZWG5 025 186 275 (52%). This issue was also raised in my 2023 audit report," Kujinga said.
The acting AG also highlighted communication challenges as in conversion of financial transactions from ZWL TO ZWG, which led to disruptions in MDAs reporting, which some were repeatedly done.
The government changed currency from ZWL to Zimbabwe Gold (ZWG) effective April 6, 2024. The reporting currency for the 2024 financial statements was the ZWG.
According to Kujinga, MDAs were supposed to produce financial statements for the whole financial year in one currency (ZWG), and this meant translating the ZWL transactions to ZWG.
"Treasury provided guidance to MDAs on how the ZWL financial transactions were to be translated. However, the circular was not uniformly applied by MDAs. Nearly all MDAs withdrew and resubmitted financial statements during the audit, and some withdrew and resubmitted more than four (4) times," said Kujinga.
Also, she indicated that some MDAs that received additional budget allocations had not exhausted their original budgets, signaling ineffective management of the budget.
"Total expenditure for the mentioned votes amounted to ZW43 874 983 672, leaving a net underspending of ZWG11 794 703 221. The initial 2024 voted funds as per the Appropriation (2024) Act, 2023, for the thirty-two (32) Appropriation Accounts included in this report were ZWG41 122 109 960. Unallocated Reserve Transfers amounting to ZWG14 547 940 934 were subsequently made to almost all MDAs.
"In addition, the budget allocation for Constitutional and Statutory Appropriations was ZWG11 187 409 335 with additional budget allocation of ZWG4 763 839 455. Total expenditure amounted to ZWG11 113 702 575, resulting in an underspending of ZWG1 282 810 505. The 32 MDAs were given a total budget of ZWG55 669 686 893 and utilized ZWG43 878 983 672, which is 79% of the allocated budget," she reported.
The acting AG raised issues on the accounting system where she said a downtime of the Public Financial Management Systems (PFMS) during the country's changeover of currency from ZWL$ to Zimbabwe Gold (ZWG) for almost five (5) months (April to August 2024).
"During that time most, MDAs operated outside the PFMS. The financial information that would have been processed outside the system was not uploaded onto the system in some cases. Such information would misstate expenditure figures," she added.
According to this report, direct payments amounting to US$1 986 391 797 were made to service providers on behalf of the MDAs by Treasury during the 2024 financial year.
However, MDAs accounted for US$1,388,673,713, leaving a balance of US$597,718,082 as at June 18, 2025. In some instances, the payments were not uploaded onto the PFMS. MDAs expenditure was understated by the direct payments.
Also, a review of the Public Financial Management System indicated that most MDAs had open items.
"Open items or uncleared entries disrupt budgetary control as they represent unconfirmed or unresolved expenditures. This would make it difficult to track actual expenditure against allocated funds.
"Most MDAs had challenges in clearing such transactions and were seeking Treasury assistance in clearing the open items.
"There is a need for the Finance ministry to relook into the issue of releasing budget without the necessary cash resource, as MDAs spend a lot of time and financial resources going through procurement processes, and some receive goods that would not be funded. This would require reversing all the unfunded transactions at the end of the year."
Another issue revealed was that thirty-nine (39) MDAs had arrear payments amounting to ZWG14 742 728 388, US$61 046 894, ZAR733 058, and €214 709. Some of these amounts have been outstanding since 2021.
"These arrear payments have been on the increase. The accumulation of arrears if left unattended, erodes the budget of the subsequent year and negatively impacts government service delivery and reputation," Kujinga reported.
She stated that there was a need to prioritise funding of MDAs to avoid the accumulation of arrears.
Fuel mismanagement cases were said to be on the increase.
"Cases of loss of fuel were on the increase. These were attributed to control weaknesses in fuel management,t ranging from non-maintenance of fuel registers, inconsistent fuel recordings, non-performance of fuel reconciliations, absence of segregation of duties, and weak supervisory checks.
"In this report, seven (7) MDAs had issues with fuel management. Measures around fuel management should be enhanced."
Differences were noted on expenditure reported between the Sub-Paymaster General's Accounts of certain MDAs and their corresponding Appropriation Accounts. These differences had not been resolved by June 5, 2025.
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Non-delivery of procured goods was reported as a cause for concern in the government, where some MDAs had undelivered goods dating back to 2021.
"A total of forty (40) vehicles, seventeen (17) fire trucks, eighty-three (83) desktops, seventy-five (75) laptops, and various office furniture, paid for between 2021 and 2024, had not been delivered as of May 30, 2025.
"There is a risk of excessive contract price variations if payments and deliveries are not made within the agreed contract period. Service delivery was also compromised as the assets are tools of trade required for the well-functioning of MDAs."
Kujinga also noted that the issue of maintenance of asset registers remained a challenge in ministries and their respective Fund Accounts.
"In some instances, asset registers were not in place, had incorrect quantities recorded, did not have serial numbers, date of purchase, or location to facilitate identification of the assets."
Despite all other adverse reports from MDAs, the acting AG, however, acknowledged ministries that took steps to address his findings.
"Out of the 411 audit findings raised during the 2023 financial year, 120 (29%) were addressed, 48 (12%) were partially addressed and 243 (59%) were yet to be addressed."
