The Audit report, as every year, mentions a series of criticisms. In the summary, the director, Charanjivsingh Romooah, lists a series of problems encountered by his office. For example, he reveals that as of February 21, 2022, the office had not received the financial statements of 44 public agencies. In addition, 11 financial statements, in relation to five special funds, had not been submitted either. The Audit Office also claims that as of February 15, 20 government ministries and departments had not submitted their annual reports for the fiscal year 2020-2021 to the Ministry of Finance. This, despite the fact that the fiscal year ended on June 30, 2021. For the Audit Office, this is a failure to comply with the law regarding the submission of reports. In the chapter of criticisms, the Audit also states that some government offices operate without a valid fire certificate, that in some contracts, cost estimates have been poorly prepared. In others, the specifications were inaccurate. All this led to delays in projects. But more seriously, the audit claims that work on the construction of drains was started as a matter of urgency in areas at high risk of flooding. However, two years later, they had still not been completed. And the Oscar for the most stupid thing: payments were made to a consultant to supervise work that was not carried out.
On the other hand, as noted; many of the recommendations have been acted on, and improvements have indeed been made. This exercise has shown that 20 percent of audit issues raised have been resolved and action has at least been initiated in respect of some 76 percent of the issues. Significant efforts have been made by public bodies to submit their financial statements to the National Audit Office for audit and to table their Annual Reports at the National Assembly. Likewise, 70 percent of Ministries and Government Departments have submitted their Annual Report on Performance for the financial year under review, compared to 40 percent reported last year.
For Instance, the report has not spared the police force this time. According to the report, a sum of Rs 24.3 million was disbursed as salaries for 101 police officers currently suspended from their duties.
The report also indicates that the number of officers suspended from their duties is on the rise. Namely, 50% of officers banned from their duties are still under police investigation; 57 of these suspended officers are under investigation for drug trafficking while seven others for murder and assault.
The Audit Office also noted the case of a police officer who was suspended for nine years. The latter was paid Rs 2.8 million before being sacked. In another similar case, Rs 3.9 million in salary was paid to two other officers banned from duty for more than seven years. The Audit Office also denounces the selection procedures which it describes as “inadequate screening” before hiring new recruits.
