An inspection of visa collection documents at the Malawi Embassy in Tokyo, Japan, by the Auditor General (AG) has revealed that in Australia, South Korea and New Zealand, there is an individual who does not work for the embassy but collects visa fees on its behalf.
A report from the AG of accounts of the Government of the Republic of Malawi for the year ended March 31, 2023 indicates that the technical or administrative arrangements for such an assignment were not provided for review during the audit of the embassy.
Section 14.1 of the Public Finance Management Act stipulates that a controlling officer shall, with respect to their institution, ensure that all necessary precautions are taken to safeguard the collection and custody of public money.
“In addition, a review of the payroll for the embassy, disclosed that the person was neither employed by the embassy nor gets a salary for such a service.
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“Therefore, it was difficult to establish the contractual arrangements between the embassy and the person,” the audit report reads.
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The audit has also raised concerns about the embassy transferring funds amounting to K236,538,901.75 (¥34,204,197) without authorisation from the Secretary to the Treasury.
“An inspection of payment vouchers disclosed that the embassy “borrowed” funds amounting to ¥26,945,970.00 (K183,241,740.89) from Visa Account to various accounts and between 25th November, 2015 and 24th February, 2022…
“…the embassy also borrowed funds amounting to K53,297,160.86 (¥7,258,227) from Holding Account No 8461316 to various accounts without authority from the Secretary to the Treasury,” the report adds.
Furthermore, the audit has queried the embassy for what it calls the unauthorised usage of K248,029,275.08 (¥35,969,651).
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Section 48 of the Public Finance Management Act further stipulates that the Secretary to the Treasury may direct that any public money received outside Malawi be paid into a bank account for the credit of such imprest account or other account as the Secretary to the Treasury may determine.
The bank account referred to shall be operated by a person appointed for that purpose by the Secretary to the Treasury.
It further states that no money shall be withdrawn from a bank account, moved to another bank account or spent, except with the written approval of the Secretary to the Treasury.
“An inspection of bank statement for Holding Account No. 8461316 disclosed that the Malawi Embassy-Tokyo utilised funds amounting to K248,029,275.08 (¥ 35,969,651) without seeking approval from the Secretary to the Treasury as per requirement,” the report says.
Malawi’s ambassador to Japan, Kwacha Chisiza, could not be reached for comment Monday
