POAC team probes 500m/- misuse at varsity college
26th January 2012
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Parastatal Organisations Accounts Committee (POAC), committee`s Chairperson, Zitto Kabwe
The
committee’s Chairperson, Zitto Kabwe said the funds were linked to the
Higher Education Students Loans Board (HESLB), adding that the committee
has decided not to approve the university’s accounts for the 2009/2010
fiscal year.
The
Kigoma-North lawmaker said the Controller and Auditor General’s (CAG)
report for the financial year 2009/2010 showed that more than 260m/- was
used to purchase various types of chemicals for laboratory tests while
60m/- from the Loans Board was allocated to fake students at the
university.
“We
have noted that the prices for the chemicals were doubled…this proves
that Mkwawa University is among institutions that doesn’t follow
procurement procedures,” Kabwe said.
On
the students’ loans scam, he said the committee observed that there
were two payment vouchers with forged names of 31 students. He said the
names had the same registration and index numbers but with a slight
difference in their surnames.
Kabwe
said the sub-committee will be led by Mwibara Member of Parliament
Kangi Lugola (CCM), naming Kwamtipura legislator, Ali Khamis (CCM) and
Special Seats MP Zainabu Kawawa (CCM) as members. He has given them a
week to complete investigations into the matter.
He
said the sub-committee will collaborate with the CAG’s office, adding
that if it is proven that the funds were embezzled, the committee would
suggest that the sub-committee conduct similar investigations in other
universities.
The
committee also found payments which did not have supporting documents,
citing salaries being issued without receipts while it is known that all
government payments must be supported with receipts.
For
his part, the University Principal Prof Philemon Mushi backed the
committee’s decision to make further investigations into the university
expenditure.
He promised to offer full cooperation to the sub-committee in order to facilitate investigation.
Meanwhile,
the Local Authority Accounts Committee (LAAC) refused to approve the
financial report for Pangani district, Tanga region for the fiscal year
2009/2010.
The
committee Chairman, Augustino Mrema said they didn’t approve the report
because the District Executive Director Neneka Rashid did not submit
the report to the CAG’s office on time.
“He
was supposed to submit the account books to the CAG five days before
they were brought to the committee. We cannot approve them since they
have been submitted to us directly,” he noted.
According to Mrema 15 percent of the DED’s January salary will be deducted as penalty.
SOURCE:
THE GUARDIAN