640 000 Litres Of Fuel Disappear-Auditor-General

Accountability was thrown into the dustbin at the Zimbabwean Justice Ministry where over 640 000 litres of fuel are unaccounted for, Auditor-General, Mildred Chiri revealed in her 2018 audit report.

The fuel was imported duty-free and meant to transport prisoners. The Central Mechanical Equipment Department withdrew 672 500 litres from the NOIC Depot but there are no records of how 642 490 litres of the diesel withdrawn was used. Said Chiri:

The Ministry of Justice, on behalf of ZPCS, went on to obtain a duty-free certificate for the waiver of duty of $2 460 000, and it also entered into an arrangement with National Oil Infrastructure Company (NOIC) for the storage of the fuel.

… However, records for the same period provided by Central Mechanical and Equipment Department (CMED), who are the official transporters of the diesel, indicate that the transporter had withdrawn a total of 672 500 litres from the facility storage at the NOIC depot.

The audit was not furnished with details of how 642 490 litres of the diesel withdrawn from the NOIC depot was used and accounted for. This was in violation of section 69 (i) and (ii) of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act.

The Auditor-General recommended that the Justice Ministry should obtain all the relevant documentation on how the fuel was used. She said:

The ministry should obtain all the relevant documentation and reconciliations of the deliveries made to date and the remaining balance of the facility.

There should be proper accounting of the fuel receipt; issuance and running balance collaborated with adequate documentation and physical checks.

-Standard