Hon. Chair S. Darboe said key figures reported by the Ministry of Finance “do not match internal records”, including “inflated” receivables and inconsistencies in cash and deposit balances.
According to the FPAC report, a detailed review and recasting of the Extended Trial Balance (ETB) and Financial Statements revealed significant misstatements in five key areas, namely Notes 7, 15, 17, 20, and 21.
The report states: Note 17 (Receivables) had an ETB (D) of D2,500,199,575.75 but the actual financial statement amounted to D3,785,660,680.00, hence a difference of D+1,285,461,104.25.
Note 15 (Cash & Cash Equivalent) had an ETB (D) of D7,273,813,871.58 but the financial statement amounted to D7,185,616,180.00, leading to a difference of D88,197,691.58.
Note 20 (the deposits) had an ETB of D–699,950,436.02 but the financial statement was at D–564,492,246.26, resulting in a difference of D–135,458,189.76.
Note 21 (the Accounts Payables) had an ETB of D–138,046,993.60 but the financial statement had D–137,002,000.00 hence a difference of D–1,044,993.60.
The committee has recommended that these figures be reconciled and corrected in the 2021 government accounts to prevent further confusion and ensure accuracy in public financial records.
The committee Chair, Hon. Darboe, also stated that another critical finding was the failure to allocate over D12 million in public funds to specific budget lines within the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs. The funds, spread across multiple allocation codes, were “sitting idle” in the system as of December 31, 2020, he stated: “These are funds that could have been used by other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).”
The committee has urged the Accountant General to work with the Budget Directorate to investigate and resolve the issue promptly.
The committee also raised alarm over the misuse of virements - movements of funds within the budget - to create 20 new government posts. “These virements, totalling over D79 million, were made without following proper financial regulations, violating Section 29(8) of the Public Finance Act, 2014.
FPAC warns that “this kind of budget maneuvering undermines” transparency and accountability. It has now recommended that no new posts should be created outside the approved manpower budget, and called on the Personnel Management Office (PMO) to do better planning.
The committee further stated that the Ministry of Finance failed to provide documentation proving that the 2020 national budget was prepared in line with program-based budgeting guidelines. Despite requests from auditors, no documents were presented, which the committee said “violates” both the Constitution and the Financial Regulations.
“If the information truly exists, why was it not shared with auditors immediately?” the report questions.
Thus FPAC insisted that the documents be submitted without delay and warned that delays in transparency raise red flags about the credibility of the budgeting process.
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