The Minister for Gender, Children and Social Action denies that more than €24 million of funds allocated in 2021 for the prevention and control of Covid-19 were diverted to the National Institute for Social Action (INAS).
“There was no redirection of funds to INAS. We managed to reach 1.7 million families when Covid-19 hit,” Njeleti Mondlane told the media on the sidelines of a public event this Sunday.
This is an audit by the Administrative Court of Mozambique, which revealed a deviation of the equivalent of more than 24 million euros in funds allocated by the state in 2021 to prevent and mitigate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In an audit report that Lusa had access to in December, the Administrative Court says it identified “matters that distort the financial reporting of funds allocated to prevent and mitigate the effects” of Covid-19 in the 2021 financial year.
A document sent to the government states that the National Institute for Social Action, a beneficiary government agency under the supervision of the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Action, incurred expenses amounting to approximately 1.71 billion metics (24.2 million euros), what constitutes “cost”. for which there was no evidence of payment for services under the contract, which constitutes a waste of funds.”
Without providing specific details about the use of the funds, a Mozambican government official stressed that the amount reached the most vulnerable families, referring any comments on the matter to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
“This was a new experience for the industry, and the industry has its own rules. The Covid-19 emergency has required us to act quickly. Therefore, in some cases, our employees went to the field and registered families in vulnerable situations and made payments (…) we have already responded to the legal authority – the Ministry of Economy and Finance,” added Njeleti Mondlane.
The audit by the Administrative Court of Mozambique also found that improper payments amounting to more than 78.6 million metikays (1.1 million meticays) and unacceptable expenses amounting to 25 million meticays (354 thousand euros) were made.
Among other things, the Administrative Court also draws attention to contracts worth more than 57.3 million meticaises (EUR 811 thousand) not submitted for preliminary review, violations in the process of concluding contracts totaling more than 100.1 million meticais (1.4 million euros) and lack of documents confirming expenses totaling 11.7 million metises (165,700 euros).
The document recalls that, in view of the impact of Covid-19 on the economy, the Mozambican government has drawn up a “needs plan” with a budget of $700 million (€633.5 million), of which $100 million (€90.5 million) for prevention and treatment. $200 million (€181 million) for government budget support, $240 million (€219 million) for family transfers and $160 million (€145 million) for micro-businesses.
“In this sense, the government in April 2020 formulated a request for a loan to the International Monetary Fund, as well as a request for support from cooperation partners in order to cover the needs,” the statement said.
The audit concluded that “deficiencies” found in the control and management of these funds “contributed to the fact that the financial statements contained material misstatements”, namely “poor communication of the purpose of payments made” by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. due to “insufficient implementation or absence of control mechanisms”, due to “deficiencies in the organization of files and records of accountability processes.”
The document also refers to the “lack of effective mechanisms to ensure that the selection of suppliers of goods and services complies with the country’s procurement rules”, but also to ensure “that contractors in the construction of public infrastructure comply with the technical characteristics established in the specifications.”