DeBug Zimbabwe

He is a wise man who seeks by every legitimate means to make all the money he can honestly, for money can do so many worthwhile things in this world, not merely for one’s self but for others. But he is an unmitigated fool who imagines for a moment that it is more important to make the money than to make it honestly. One of the advantages of possessing money is that it facilitates one’s independence and mental attitude. The man head over heels in debt is more slave than independent— B. C. Forbes

COULD THIS BE THE MOTIVATION BEHIND OUR AFRICAN LEADERS..."GET RICH BEFORE YOU GET DOWN"?
ACCRA—Ghana's Deputy Communications Minister Victoria Hammah has been sacked after she was recorded allegedly saying she would stay in politics until she has made $1m (£600,000). "If you have money then you can control people," she seems to say on the tape which has been widely circulated. Ms Hammah has not yet commented on the tape or her sacking. The BBC's Sammy Darko in Accra says she played a key role in President John Mahama's election last year.

Some pundits will feel vindicated over her sacking, as they warned that she was too young and inexperienced to serve in government, our correspondent says. In August, she said there was a lot of pressure on her to steal public money because people thought that, as a minister, she was rich. She described such demands as "obnoxious", reports the Ghanaweb news site. "Corrupt politicians are the reflection of [a] corrupt society!" it quotes her as saying.

Ms Hammah first came to the public attention after stumbling several times while making a speech and then saying she had been given the wrong text. On the tape, which has not been independently verified, she says: "I will not quit politics until I make one million dollars." She also criticising another deputy minister, calling her "senseless, ugly, loud and egoistic". Information Minister Mahama Ayariga did not give any reason for Ms Hammah's dismissal in her one-sentence announcement.

But it comes 24 hours after the tape went viral on social media and was played on a local radio station. Her driver has been questioned by the police, after she lodged a complaint, saying her right to privacy had been infringed. Police spokesman Freeman Tetttey told the BBC they were investigating whether an offence had been committed—BBC

"Conditions of services, particularly salaries and accommodation, are at the centre of hardships faced by police officers. I am not at all trying to justify corruption and those who are corrupt will surely face stiff punishment, but some of the situations are just dire and provoke corrupt tendencies."—Police Comm-Gen Augustine Chihuri

Govt Audit Exposes Rampant Theft, Malpractices
A Government audit report for the year 2011 that was tabled in Parliament last week has revealed that most State enterprises and parastatals practised bad corporate governance and had weak financial controls, a situation which could have cost the economy large sums of money. The report by the Comptroller and Auditor-General (C&AG) noted that most State enterprises and parastatals operated without boards and flouted tender procedures, while some of them kept a lot of cash at their premises risking robberies.

“My audit revealed that some public entities/designated corporate bodies were operating without boards or had poorly constituted boards and in some cases the boards were unbalanced in terms of skills mix and in the majority of cases they lacked financial expertise and as a result they operated without audit committees and at times where they existed they were not very effective,” reads the C&AG report. “Some of these entities were operating without strategic plans, and in the absence of such plans it was difficult to independently assess service delivery of these organisations and I noted a number of these entities did not have a performance-management system in place.”

The auditors observed that Allied Timbers (Pvt) Ltd used cash to settle its obligations, risking robbery and theft. “The company used cash to pay most of its obligations like salaries and wages, payments to local suppliers, and furthermore, large amounts of cash were kept at the company’s premises risking robbery and theft, and misappropriation of cash resources by virtue of the company holding large amount of money,” said the report.

The Central Mechanical Equipment Department, which services government vehicles, is alleged to have lost $146 940 worth of fuel through fraudulent claims by its employees. “The loss was composed of 58 000 litres of petrol and 72 000 litres of diesel. The employees were discharged, but nothing was recovered.”

The National Railways of Zimbabwe’s current liabilities had by December 2011 exceeded current assets by $16 933 762, while the net loss incurred was $46 027 306 and $24 403 787 for 2011 and 2010, respectively. The National Social Security Authority reportedly incurred heavy losses through double payment of executive directors’ sitting allowances. The accounting transactions of the Zimbabwe Institute of Public Administration and Management of 2011 were said to be altered and cash payments that were made led to theft and misappropriations. “Among the vouchers examined for the period under review 87 vouchers were altered by adding a figure either to the left or to the right of original figure after the voucher had been processed. The total amount involved was $123 761,” reads the report—NEWSDAY

Better is the poor who walks in his integrity than he who is crooked though he be rich--Pro 28:6