The Ministry of Indigen-ous Peoples’ Affairs has disclosed that the State Assets Recovery Unit (SARU) and the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) launched an investigation over a year ago into the spending from the Amerindian Purposes Fund (APF), which the audit office says is still not being properly managed.
The ministry made this disclosure in response to the findings of the Auditor General in the report on the public accounts for 2017, which says the ministry has failed to put measures in place for the proper use, record keeping and management of the fund.
The report, which was recently tabled in the National Assembly, noted that the APF was established in the year 2000, in keeping with provisions of the Amerindian Act. The Act was later repealed and the new legislation does not in itself provide for the operation of the Fund.