The Auditor General of Federal Government of Somalia Avv: Ahmed Gutale, who convened today a press briefing within his office, where he presented findings from an examination of financial activities during the Fiscal Year 2022.
The investigation covered 15 Government agencies and 3 embassies, which had received allocations totaling around $539 million from the 2022 budget.
This constituted 58% of the overall budget approved by the parliamentary body in the previous year, amounting to $944 million.
The Auditor found that some institutions committed errors by procuring items without adhering to the annual purchase plan. With Procurement of $60 Million without having an Annual Procurement Plan, He excused to the lack of the national public procurement agency or the public procurement management committee. While some agencies cited to failed to conduct internal audits.
The auditor abstained from explicitly employing the terms “Corruption” and “Mismanagement.” However, the Auditor General has rendered a Qualified Opinion on the financial audit for the year 2022 and has subsequently submitted it to the National Accountant General Esp:
▪️Supporting documents of a $19.3 Million sent the central bank of Somalia, to the Banadir region, Chamber of Commerce & the Somali Development Bank.
▪️Two Concession contracts between the Federal government and Favori LLC, responsible for Adan Cadde Airport, and Albayrak Company, who manages the Mogadishu Port, stipulate that the government is entitled to 25% of Favori LLC’s revenue and 62.17% of Albayrak’s revenue, where not availed for audit to verify the accuracy of concession fees of $32 Million, due to the federal government of Somalia.
▪️ Mismanagement of revenue of $1.9 million from the Somali embassies in Nairobi, Kenya Ankara, Turkey, and Berlin, Germany, without proper accountability.
▪️The main financial statements lacked details on cash receipts, cash payments, and resulting cash balances totaling $38.7 Million from seven MSAs (Multi-Year Spending Agreements).
The Auditor General concluded by recommending that federal government revenue officials adhere to the mandatory obligations outlined in the public financial management (PFM) act and the Public Procurement Act. This includes accurate collection, accounting, and timely depositing of public funds into the treasury single account (TSA).
Finally, Hassan Sheikh’s Admin has brought charges of corruption against eighteen individuals, public confidence has been eroded due to the administration’s notoriety for engaging the relatives of the president and ministers, a practice commonly referred to as nepotism.
Somalia sits at the bottom of the 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index by Berlin-based corruption watchdog Transparency International that surveyed 180 countries.
The Daily Somalia.
