In a report presented in Parliament on Tuesday after examining Bulawayo City Council (BCC)’s accounts, Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee chairperson, Ms Paurina Mpariwa noted that the local authority’s books are in shambles and this raises the risk that funds are being misappropriated.
Mpariwa said they noted that Bulawayo City Council does not have an asset register hence it was difficult to establish what the municipality was getting from rentals. She said this also makes it difficult to establish what type of buildings Bulawayo has and what income is being derived from such properties. Said Mpariwa:
Of great concern to the Committee was the huge backlog by Council with regards to the production of financial statements for audit. In 2014, the Auditor General was auditing the 2010 and 2011 Bulawayo City Council accounts. By all accounting standards, reporting on these accounts will not be of much value. Given that they were behind in auditing their books, there was therefore a greater need for proper record keeping to ensure that such documents are in place whenever they are required for audit purposes.
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