By Thomas Dixon
232news
The Protector of the Public Purse has exposed massive corruption in the Ministry of Agriculture over the Machine Ring Service Project.
According to Audit Documents, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on the 16th April 2021, between the Ministry and different service providers for machine ring services in 16 districts and that it was expected that various technical and strategic units in the Ministry were to prepare and submit monthly independent reports certifying work done before payments were made to the ring service providers.
“It was however strange to note that Le16,996,000,000.00 was paid to service providers without evidence of independent certification reports which should be the basis for payments,” the Auditor General Revealed
They further observed that there was limited involvement of the District Agriculture Officers (DAOs) in monitoring the activities of the machine ring services, pointing out that a copy of the signed MoU was not available in the district offices visited.
“The districts were also challenged with adequate mobility for monitoring and supervision of agricultural activities in the districts. We recommended that the independent certification reports for payments made are submitted for audit inspection,” the Auditors stated
They furthered the SPS and Ag. CAO should also ensure that the DAOs become an integral part of the machine ring service, and that adequate vehicles and motorbikes are provided for ease of mobility to monitor farm sites.
