The 2023 Office of the Auditor General report has reprimanded the Amerindian Affairs Ministry over handling of the Amerindian Purpose Fund (APF) and has called for reconciliation to be done in a timely manner.
The recently tabled report noted that the Amerindian Purpose Fund (APF) was established in 2000 in keeping with Section 28 of the Amerindian Act Chapter 29:01. This Act was later repealed by Section 84 of the Amerindian Act (2006), which had not in itself provided for the operation of the Fund.
Section 29 of the Act required the Ministry to prepare an annual Financial Statement which is to be audited by the Auditor General.
“Over the years, it was observed that significant sums of moneys were deposited into the fund and expended. Further, the Ministry continue (s) to manage the financial affairs of the fund poorly. While the Ministry maintained a Cash Book to record the sum received and expended, it did not reflect the opening and closing balances”, the Auditor General’s report said.
The Audit Office recommended that the Head of Budget Agency ensure that the Cash Book is properly maintained and the Financial Statements for the APF are prepared and submitted to the Audit Office, so that the Fund can be better managed and audited. In 2023, the Ministry transferred the sum of $240m to the Fund.
“Despite several requests the Ministry did not present Financial Statements for the year. A similar, observation was made in 2022. An analysis of the Cash Book for the year 2023 revealed that amounts totalling $3.162 billion were received while amounts totalling $1.483 billion were expended. At the time of reporting in September 2024, the Bank Account was being reconciled”, the report added.
The Head of the Budget Agency in response said that the APF reconciliation is a “work in progress”. Monthly reconciliation was done for 2023 and reconciliations for the years 2022, 2021 and 2020 were completed. The Head of the Budget Agency said that the process was done from a descending approach as advised by the Accountant General and the Audit Office. It added that the Accounts Department of Ministry had faced several shortages of staff at the start of 2024. However, several posts were filled in July 2024, as such work has recommenced to clear the backlog.
The Audit Office recommended that the Head of Budget Agency ensure that the reconciliation is done in a timely manner to prevent a recurrence.
