While school authorities have lamented the government’s failure to disburse BEAM (Basic Education Assistance Module) funds on time, crippling their operations, the latest Auditor-General’s report reveals an even more concerning issue.
In 2023, the government failed to utilize a total of ZWL$10.3 billion that had been allocated towards the BEAM programme.
According to Acting Auditor-General Rheah Kujinga, the funds remained unutilised due to the absence of an effective mechanism to identify eligible beneficiaries.
The BEAM operational manual, which has not been updated since 2016, has also become outdated and user-unfriendly.
Moreover, the BEAM funds were reportedly held in bank accounts, losing value due to the prevailing hyperinflationary environment during the period they remained unspent. Said Kujinga:
During the year ended December 31, 2023, the ministry made payments to BEAM beneficiaries amounting to ZWL$77 470 697 373.
These payments were made outside the PFMS contrary to Section 13 of the Public Finance Management (Treasury Instructions), 2019.
The transactions were recorded on Microsoft Excel which did not have security features.
This was caused by the absence of password to access the BEAM Management Information System (MIS) that was being used before the passing on of the administrator who was a super user and had all the passwords to the system.
The ministry failed to recover the passwords and ended up resorting to the use of Microsoft Excel.
The ministry also took a long to settle the outstanding BEAM obligations with schools and the funds owed lost value due to inflation.
According to the Auditor-General’s report, amounts owed by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education for the year ended December 31, 2022, under the programme were paid during the year ended December 31, 2023.
ZWL$278 billion was owed to various schools at the end of 2023. Reads the report:
On the other hand, the Ministry did not utilise ZWL$9 773 529 855 under the BEAM Programme, depriving schools use of much needed financial resources for delivering education services to pupils.
An outdated manual might not be able to provide the guidelines required for effective management of the programme.
Data might be manipulated if processed and stored on Microsoft Excel.
The report further highlighted that the timing of fund disbursements from the Treasury towards the end of the year also impacted the utilisation of the BEAM funds. With limited time remaining in the fiscal year, there was insufficient time to process the necessary payments.
Kujinga emphasized the need for regular monitoring of project implementation to ensure the successful execution of government initiatives like BEAM.
She recommended that timely disbursement of funds by the Treasury is essential to enable the planned activities, especially those targeting vulnerable groups, to be properly implemented.
Additionally, the Acting Auditor General recommended the adoption of an approved accounting software package for processing payments.
This, she believes, would help ensure the integrity of the data and improve the overall financial management of the BEAM programme.
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