Auditor slams agencies

The annual Audit Report that Auditor General Gemechu Dubiso disclosed to the House of People’s Representatives (HPR) last Thursday, revealed another shocking display of unaccounted, illegal and uncollected revenue by federal government agencies during the last Ethiopian fiscal year. The Auditor General also conducted a performance audit of federal institutions to see if they are living up to their mission. The Auditor then addressed a concern about the prevalence of Emboch, Water Hyacinth. According to Auditor General, Emboch covers over 50 thousand hectares of Ethiopia’s water bodies. Emboch has been put in to lakes, dams and rivers. It is in lakes: Tana, Zeway, Abaya, Chamo and the rivers; Abay, Awash and Baro in addition to Koka and Aba Samuel Dams which harms the nation’s water resources. The Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity and the Ethiopian Bio Diversity Institute did not do enough to stop the spread of Emboch. In fact, the Institute which is expected to preserve bio diversity did not have data on Emboch in Ethiopian water bodies, the auditor said. According to the information from the Auditor General, Emboch was observed in Ethiopia for the first time in 2011 in the Megech River which is one the tributaries of Lake Tana. At that time the plant covered 3 hectares. With the scant attention given by the concerned government offices, Emboch instantly cover 20 thousand hectares in 2013 the same area as 15 kebeles. By 2014 it had grown to 30 thousand hectares. Not studying Emboch has hindered efforts to prevent the spread based on scientifically proven methods “Any of the government offices could take action but they neglect the issues,” the auditor general adds. We have been unable to obtain the latest information on Emboch which is an irresponsible act, the auditor went on to say. Regional states are better mobilizing the resource and have the latest data. According to Rift Valley Lakes authorities, Emboch covers 40 hectares of Lake Zeway and 1780 hectares of Lake Abaya. Performance Audit on Le Hulu contractual agreement. In another performance Audit by the Auditor general, Le Hulu, a financial technology company that delivered a unified billing system in Addis Ababa has illegally conducted the task of collecting bills, and collected over 70 million birr. What was at the time the Ministry of Information and Technology awarded the contract to Le Hulu which won the bid and was then prohibited from transferring to other companies. However, the Ministry awarded the contract to Le Hulu violating the criteria of having five years of experience and making at least four government projects to deliver the service. The company was only four months old. Auditor General Gemechu Dubisu hopes the Attorney General will hold these groups accountable.