Keep Us Strong WikiLeaks logo

Currently released so far... 51122 / 251,287

Articles

Browse latest releases

Browse by creation date

Browse by origin

A B C D F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Browse by tag

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Browse by classification

Community resources

courage is contagious

Viewing cable 07KIGALI209, OFFICE OF AUDITOR GENERAL ON USE OF PUBLIC FUNDS

If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs

Understanding cables
Every cable message consists of three parts:
  • The top box shows each cables unique reference number, when and by whom it originally was sent, and what its initial classification was.
  • The middle box contains the header information that is associated with the cable. It includes information about the receiver(s) as well as a general subject.
  • The bottom box presents the body of the cable. The opening can contain a more specific subject, references to other cables (browse by origin to find them) or additional comment. This is followed by the main contents of the cable: a summary, a collection of specific topics and a comment section.
To understand the justification used for the classification of each cable, please use this WikiSource article as reference.

Discussing cables
If you find meaningful or important information in a cable, please link directly to its unique reference number. Linking to a specific paragraph in the body of a cable is also possible by copying the appropriate link (to be found at theparagraph symbol). Please mark messages for social networking services like Twitter with the hash tags #cablegate and a hash containing the reference ID e.g. #07KIGALI209.
Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07KIGALI209 2007-03-01 15:05 2011-08-24 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Kigali
VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLGB #0209/01 0601505
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 011505Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY KIGALI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3833
INFO RUEHJB/AMEMBASSY BUJUMBURA 0020
RUEHDR/AMEMBASSY DAR ES SALAAM 0829
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 1546
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA 0188
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 0791
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0209
UNCLAS KIGALI 000209 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM RW
SUBJECT: OFFICE OF AUDITOR GENERAL ON USE OF PUBLIC FUNDS 
 
Summary 
-------- 
 
1.  (U) The Auditor General sees recurring failings in use of 
public funds by some government offices, to be rectified by 
training, appointment of appropriate oversight officials, the 
production of consolidated financial statements by the 
Ministry of Finance, and a new Accountancy law.  Assistance 
is most acutely needed by local officials, as the GOR 
proceeds with its extensive decentralization program.  The EU 
has a two-pronged program to assist the GOR: technical 
assistance to the Ministry of Finance and assistance with 
certification of public accountants.  End summary. 
 
Serious Failings Noted 
---------------------- 
2.  (U) The Office of the Auditor General (OAG)  in its 
recently submitted Report to Parliament (for calendar year 
2005) records a number of failings in the executive branch in 
its use of public funds, including: 
 
--Non-preparation of financial statements; some institutions 
do not maintain proper books of account. 
--Poor management of bank accounts; reconciliation statements 
are not produced. 
--Poor management of fixed assets; some offices have no fixed 
asset registers, and thus have "no effective control over 
fixed assets." 
--Absence of title deeds; most government institutions do not 
have title deeds; ownership disputes are likely, says the OAG. 
--Non-compliance with tender procedures.  While the law 
stipulates three levels of tender board depending on the 
level of proposed tender, approximately eighteen million 
dollars of projects were awarded without tender board 
approval.  Some tenders were split into smaller tenders to 
avoid the tender boards. 
Unsupported expenditure; approximately  $7.2 million of 
expenditures occurred "that were not supported by any 
verifiable document." 
--Ineffectiveness of internal audits; "most of the audited 
entities do not have internal audit functions, and where 
internal auditors are in place, their work is neither 
effective nor reliable." 
--Ineffectiveness of Directors of Finance and Administration 
in most institutions; "in most cases, qualifications and 
experience of people holding these positions are not relevant 
to the position." 
 
 
3.  (U) The OAG audited 17 of 32 ministries "and other 
central administrative units," a number of other national and 
local governmental bodies, and 24 of 50 "autonomous and 
semi-autonomous public enterprises." However, only the 
executive summary of the parliamentary report is available to 
the public (and this mission), at an OAG website. The 
individual failings of specific government bodies, and the 
extent of those failings, is not discussed in that summary. 
 
Improvements 
----------- 
4.  (U) The executive summary notes that production of 
"consolidated financial statements," something not previously 
done by the Ministry of Finance, is scheduled to begin for 
the 2006 financial year.  Training of accountants and 
internal auditors has commenced, and the "expected enactment" 
of an Accountancy Law will improve financial management. 
Help from donors includes assistance from the European Union, 
which is assisting the Ministry of Finance with 
implementation of the new Organic Budget Law as well as 
preparation of a new public accounts software system, 
nicknamed "Public Books."  The EU is also assisting, together 
with the World Bank, DFID and SIDA, with training and 
certification of public accountants.  The Swedish and Dutch 
embassies are assisting the Auditor General with training in 
"performance" audits and in their general auditing of 
government funds. 
 
Recommendations 
--------------- 
5.  (SBU) In the audit summary, the Auditor General, taking 
note of the "serious shortcomings" in the financial 
management of the institutions audited, recommends training 
of "non-finance managers" as well as board members of public 
corporations in oversight duties.  In recent conversations 
with mission officers, the Deputy Auditor General (DAG) said 
that "most errors" in the use of public funds involved a lack 
of transparency -- what was done was either "not clear or 
unproven." 
 
6.  (SBU) The DAG noted that that the Office of the Auditor 
General had no enforcement function of its own.  Instead, its 
sent its yearly reports to both the Parliament and the 
Prosecutor General, as well as the Presidency and individual 
members of the cabinet.  However, none had the expertise to 
evaluate the reports properly.  Prosecutors in particular 
lacked expertise and experience in pursuit of financial 
crimes. 
 
7.  (SBU) Of particularly concern, said the DAG, was the low 
level of financial capacity at the district and sector levels 
(NGO personnel working at these levels echo this sentiments). 
 The problem was "immense," he said.  His office had begun to 
visit all 30 district offices, and his 70 auditors (the best 
in the country, he averred) had begun grappling with the 
task.  Recently returned from Uganda, where he held a similar 
position in the Ugandan government (engaged in a similarly 
broad decentralization effort, he said), the DAG said he 
expected "progress, but not overnight." 
 
Comment 
------- 
8.  (SBU) The recently released report of the Auditor General 
received some press play here, devoid of any substantive 
details, beyond some attention to the general points noted 
above.  Reports of this kind are unfortunately regarded as 
sensitive documents, to be discussed by government officials 
in closed sessions, and unavailable to the public.  However, 
in the dry detail of practicing accountants, recurrent 
failings in the documentation of the use of public funds are 
noted with some precision in the publicly-released executive 
summary.  As noted by the Deputy Auditor General, and by 
international NGOs working in Rwanda, while all levels of 
government need substantial training in accounting for public 
funds, local government officials are particularly in need of 
capacity building assistance.   The European Union, Dutch and 
Swedish missions are assisting both the Ministry of Finance 
and the Office of the Auditor General with public accounting 
and the accounting profession.  End comment. 
 
 
ARIETTI