The Accountant General’s Department (AcGD) has come under the microscope of the country’s chief guardian of public expenditure for paying out millions to pensioners up to seven months after they have died.
Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis stated in her annual report, tabled in Parliament yesterday, that her department found instances in which the AcGD paid a total of $1.8 million to 25 pensioners, seven months after the expiration of their life certificates and acknowledgement of their deaths.
“The loss exposure, stemming from this deficiency, could be more, considering that we conducted our assessment on a sample basis,’ Monroe Ellis noted.
The policy of the AcGD stipulates that pensioners should submit life certificates on a quarterly basis to verify that they are alive before the disbursement of payments.
But the untimely verification of pensioners appears to be a recurring decimal for the AcGD. Monroe Ellis reported that this issue had been highlighted in previous audits.
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