Local sport bodies affiliated to Malawi National Council of Sports (MNCS) should brace for financial scrutiny before accessing funding for various programmes.
Sports Council Development Manager Ruth Mzengo said associations will be required to liquidate funding before accessing support for subsequent programmes.
“We made the decision to ensure that associations use their grant in the rightful manner. There is no point in giving associations funding for programmes when they have not liquidated the present one,” she said.
Mzengo said Sports Council would also train administrators from different associations on how to handle finances and compile financial reports.
“We were supposed to do it this year but we suspended the programme due to Covid-19 pandemic. Otherwise for those associations whom we feel they can’t handle funding on their own then they will be doing it jointly with our accounts department,” she said.
Former Football Association of Malawi (Fam) acting General Secretary George Kaudza Masina applauded Sports Council for taking this drive.
“This is the way to go. For accountability purpose it is prudent for the associations to demonstrate how they have used the funds before accessing further funding. This helps to determine whether the funds have been used for the intended purpose or not,” he said.
The sport analyst said culprits should be punished to deter others from abusing office.
“If the funds have been misused, the culprits could be reprimanded immediately and cut out the vice. For a long time there hasn’t been accountability in the sports associations leading to misappropriation of funds.
“With audits being conducted at the end of the financial year, most associations were too comfortable with the finances and this time around the honey moon is over,” Masina said.
