Auditors complete Admarc probe
Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation Board Chairperson Alexander Kusamba Dzonzi has said external auditors have completed a systemic audit at the organisation and have since submitted a report. Dzonzi said the auditors’ report has been submitted to the Treasury and the Office of the President Cabinet for further action.
Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) Board Chairperson Alexander Kusamba Dzonzi has said external auditors have completed a systemic audit at the organisation and have since submitted a report.
Dzonzi said the auditors’ report has been submitted to the Treasury and the Office of the President Cabinet (OPC) for further action.
He said the audit was part of ongoing investigations at the corporation, which Agriculture Minister Lobin Lowe shut down three weeks ago.
“The specific audit focused on staff loans, motor vehicle insurance, medical schemes and dunnage poles. I can say that a number of members of staff have been implicated.
He could, however, not be drawn to comment on the number of members of staff implicated.
Asked on how the closure of the company has affected disciplinary proceedings for suspended general manager Rhino Chiphiko and others, Dzonzi said they have given themselves up to September 20 2022 to complete all the hearings.
He disclosed however that they will not be able to bring Chiphiko for hearing by the said date as he is out of the country on medical grounds.
“We would like to do everything as required by law. The special team, which has been constituted, is conducting disciplinary hearings for the suspended employees. But they will not be able to hear the GM since he is not feeling well and out of the country and we cannot force matters,” he said.
Following the development Chiphiko’s matter is likely to be one of the outstanding issues for the board, whose tenure of office ends at the end of this month.
Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture Sandram Maweru said in interview over the weekend that he advised the board on how to handle the Chiphiko matter but both him and Dzonzi could not divulge details when asked.
Admarc’s failure to summon Chiphiko for disciplinary hearing, three months after his suspension, flouts Section 11 (4.1) of Admarc’s Terms and Conditions of Service for its members of Staff which stipulates that an employee can be suspended for not longer than 30 days to facilitate thorough investigations into a matter in question.
Comptroller of Statutory Corporations Peter Simbani last week said he was engaging the Admarc board to ensure that they do not flout relevant procedures and come in conflict with the law.
“I am in a discussion with the current board chairperson to make sure that all the outstanding issues are resolved, as you are aware that when someone is suspended they are supposed to be taken through the disciplinary process within a given period of time and, if you go beyond that, it becomes a legal issue,” Simbani said.
Chiphiko was suspended on May 20 2022 on allegations that he authorised the purchase of his official vehicle, a Nissan Patrol valued at about K107 million, without the knowledge of the board.
