We would accept it if the failure to comply with government regulations was to due to genuine ignorance of what needed to be done.
We however think this failure to comply is deliberate.
It is quite clear that someone somewhere is abusing the government’s weak systems to get away with murder and fatten their pockets at the expense of the people.
Wilful non-compliance breeds corruption among civil servants.
The government needs to get its act together to ensure that officers who wilfully violate the government’s rules and procedures are punished severely.
This will discourage corrupt and fraudulent practices.
If government books are not properly audited there is a big risk that fraud will never be unearthed.
This has huge implications for the country.
The government must build people’s confidence that public funds are not being abused.
The whole business of having an audit is to ensure accountability.
A lot needs to be done to ensure that there is real progress in addressing these challenges.
Lesotho, listed by the World Bank among the poorest of the poor, relies heavily on donor funds.
It would be a travesty of justice if some corrupt civil servant were to be allowed to pinch public funds and get away with it.
The government must move with haste to ensure that Lesotho’s next audit report reflects an improvement in closing down all these unnecessary leakages.
The current global economic crisis means that major donor countries in the West, the epicentre of the economic crisis, will tighten their belts.
This will see reduced funds flowing to poor countries such as Lesotho.
It is therefore critical to reassure the donor community that public funds will not be abused.
Let’s clean up the mess now.
