The Integrated Financial Management and Information System (Ifmis) has finally launched, aimed at monitoring governmental  functions such as assets, projects, contracts, inventory and fleet management, just to mention a few.

Last year, an audit report by the National Audit Office (NAO) revealed that almost K5.9 billion went unaccounted for in the June 2018 fiscal year. The audit report was presented to Parliament, exposing how the funds may have been abused, like payment vouchers that were not submitted for audit. Failure to provide other documents for audit inspection was also noted by the audit. The accumulated missing K5.9bn has been misused by these councils; Blantyre, Mzuzu, Lilongwe and Zomba, along with municipal councils Luchenza and Kasungu and 28 district councils, not to mention Mangochi town council.

The Accountant General, Sungani Mandala, said Ifmis will monitor allocation and use of funds in ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs). Findings by British forensic auditors Baker Tilly in 2013, established that prior to the update of Ifmis.    K23 billion was abused by lower management accounts in civil service. Having noted that the country’s local government councils have been involved in mismanagement of public funds, the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development has revealed that it will enforce the use of Ifmis in the 35 local government councils.

Government has spent about K5 billion on the new Ifmis whose supplier is Twenty Third Century Systems, which also works in Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Nigeria.