Africa-Press – Botswana. In an effort to restore public trust in government structures and address public concerns regarding corruption and the misappropriation of funds, government has commenced the much anticipated forensic audit on the affairs on the country.
Addressing the media in Gaborone, President Advocate Duma Boko said the purpose of the audit would be to identify and assess corruption across government departments, develop a risk based audit plan to combat corruption as well as provide data driven tools to address corruption over time.
He said the audit would also conduct a comprehensive study of the financial performance of all State Owned Enterprises in the country, dating back to 10 years till 2024. The audit, he said would be conducted by the Dubai registered auditing firm called Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) Middle East Limited to the tune of just over P54 million.
Despite the intent to recover misappropriated public funds in Botswana, President Boko indicated that the audit was a critical move to bolster investor confidence in Botswana and also send a strong message that government would not tolerate corruption.
He said the first stage of the audit would be conducted in four phases to be completed in four weeks with an objective of conducting a comprehensive mapping of the mandate and operational aspect as well as financial performance of state owned enterprises.
“The first phase will be to identify and assess corruption and fraud, risks across ministries, government departments, state owned enterprises as well as regulatory and oversights institutions,” said President Boko.
The second phase will be to develop a risk based forensic audit for governance, procurement and regulatory compliance on a prioritised and targeted base, President Boko said and explained the third phase to provide a data driven tool, to monitor and mitigate corruption risks overtime.
The final fourth phase of the first stage, President Boko said would be developing and implementing a project frame work to oversee activities for projects and ensure alignment with objectives and communication requirements.
“Stage two of the audit will last for a maximum of nine months and will resume with the evaluation of the effectiveness and efficiency of all government structures and practices within government ministries, departments, state owned enterprises and regulatory authorities,” President Boko explained.
He said this stage would also assess the adequacy and effectiveness of systems, policies and procedures in an effort to prevent and detect fraud and corruption while the third stage would be to uncover instances of financial mismanagement, waste, fraud or corruption and determine their magnitude and identify responsible parties as well as provide evidence of potential legal or disciplinary action.
With regard to the audit deliverables, President Boko stated that the forensic audit report would outline findings, evidence and recommendation for corrective reforms and the outcome would include detailed reports identifying individuals and entities responsible for misconducts if any and provide recommendations for further actions.
President Boko highlighted that they would tailor action plans to address controlled deficiencies and prevent recurrence of issues.
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