Amerindian Ministry failed to balance APF bank account since 2009

Amerindian Ministry failed to balance APF bank account since 2009 – AG Report

Jan 19, 2021 News

Kaieteur News – The bank account of the Amerindian Purpose Fund (APF) which falls under the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, now Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, has not been reconciled since November 2009 and despite commitments to balance the account, this is yet to materialize. This was revealed in the 2019 Auditor General’s (AG) Report.
The reconciliation of a bank account is an accounting process that seeks to compare two sets of records to check and ensure they are correct and in synchronization. It also confirms that the general ledger (which is a bookkeeping method to store accounting data transferred from all sub-ledgers like accounts payable, accounts receivable, cash management, fixed assets, purchasing and projects) are accurate, consistent and complete.
In the Ministry’s case, officials there maintained a cash book and the balance of that cash book was never reconciled with the APF’s bank statement balance.
In the AG report, it was stated that the APF was established in 2000 in keeping with Section 28 of the Amerindian Act Chapter 09:01 but it was later repealed by Section 84 of the Amerindian Act of 2006, which itself had not provided for the operation of the APF. “Nonetheless, the Original Act, at Section 29, required the preparation of Financial Statements and an audit by the Auditor,” the report outlined.
The report further stated that even though they were not provided for in the current Act, there are “best practices in any accounting process” and those best practices were never satisfied since the establishment of the fund.
The AG report also noted that over the years observations have been made concerning significant sums of money which were received and expended from the APF and the Ministry’s continued poor financial management. Adding to that it said that even though the current Act has no provisions for the APF, the Ministry has failed to put measures in place for proper use, record keeping and management of the fund.
In the Ministry’s response to the AG, the Head of the Budget Agency acknowledged the findings and explained that a reconciliation process was started in November 2017, but it was halted in 2018 after the Special Organized Crime Unit demanded all documents associated with the account prior to 2015.
It was also highlighted in the 2018 AG Report that the Ministry said that it was in the process of seeking advice from the Ministry of the Presidency’s Department of Public Services for a team from the Ministry to conduct the reconciliation exercise. “The exercise will be done beyond regular working hours and according to the work programme, the reconciliation is expected to be completed by December 2019,” it was noted.
Nevertheless, the AG has recommended that the Head of the Budget Agency ensures systems are implemented urgently so that the fund could be better managed.

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Amerindian Ministry failed to balance APF bank account since 2009 – AG Report

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Amerindian Ministry failed to balance APF bank account since 2009 – AG Report

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