Wellington Mission breached contract – Chief Auditor finds
Fuimaono makes the point in his 2011 report to the Legislative Assembly, where he assessed two overseas missions – the Wellington High Commission and the Office of the Consulate General in American Samoa.
With regards to the Wellington assessment, the breach was discovered when the Audit Office noted some payroll payment issues.
“Such as salary increments and bonus for the office driver not in accordance with employment contract,” the report reads.
“(Also) there were some expenditure accounts with actual spending exceeding the budget allocation.
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“(And) the Fixed Asset Register was incomplete and not updated.”
The High Commission took the time to address these issues.
“The Mission does not have a budget for servicing visas as well as overall Ministry requests concerned using Mission funds,” the Office in question responded.
“These receipts or deposits are for reimbursements of mission funds spent for telephone, courier and other related costs.
“(We) agree to a proper stock take to reflect all current assets, consumables and written-off assets to date.
“Please refer to M.F.A.T. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade) for further clarification/comments.”
Looking now to the audit of the American Samoan Consulate, Fuimaono reports that it lost money in the financial year ending 2009.
For the 2010 financial year, the Chief Auditor says the Office’s revenue exceeded its expenditure.
The report is republished in full below:
Government Overseas Mission
Office of the Consulate General – American Samoa
Period covered by audit: 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2010
Summary of audit findings:
During the two financial years under audit, total expenditure incurred for the operations of the Office were $564,722 in 2009 and $416,083 in 2010.
Revenue collected during the period under audit were USD160,880 (SAT$432,357) in 2009 and USD217,058 (SAT$685,374) in 2010.
Samoa High Commission Office – Wellington
Period covered by audit: 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010
Summary of audit findings:
1. There were some expenditure accounts with actual spending exceeding the budget allocation;
2. The Fixed Asset Register was incomplete and not updated;
3. There were some payroll payments issues such as salary increments and bonus for office driver not in accordance with employment contract.
4. The High Commission responded as follows:
- The Mission does not have a budget for servicing visas as well as overall Ministry requests concerned using Mission funds. These receipts or deposits are for reimbursements of mission funds spent for telephone, courier and other related costs.
- Agree to a proper stock take to reflect all current assets, consumables and written-off assets to date
- Please refer to MFAT for further clarification/comments.
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