In Niger, the Court of Auditors has published its annual report for 2021. The Court is responsible in particular for controlling the operations of the State, local authorities and public establishments. The 300-page document was delivered to President Mohamed Bazoum last week.
The report first points to dysfunctions and irregularities in the conduct of State operations. For example, the existence of abnormal balances in certain accounts, or expenditure without legal basis. Dysfunctions also in the management of local authorities and public companies controlled this year.
The Court also examines the annual accounts of political parties and their election accounts. According to its first president, Narey Oumarou, “ few parties have produced election accounts “. And even when they did, the Court was unable to rule on their regularity and sincerity.
In addition, certain personalities, in particular members of the government, are required to declare their assets. Some didn’t make it on time, others just didn’t “ deign to do it “, indicates the Court of Auditors.
The Covid has a good back
Finally, the body considers in this report that the Covid-19 pandemic has served as a pretext for all kinds of abuse: over-invoicing, false competition, contracts concluded by direct agreement without competition, without the conditions being met. … These are some of the points raised by the Court of Auditors after its audit of public procurement of the Covid-19 Response Programme.
This text notes that inappropriate changes have been made to public procurement as part of the response to the pandemic.
The Court considers that constructions were carried out and equipment acquired at unreasonable costs by the ministries inspected (those of Health, Agriculture and Hydraulics are cited). She cites several examples, including coffee bowls bought at 10,000 CFA francs, or about 15 euros each, or mattresses acquired at a high price. The report figures the total amount of the shortfall at more than 5 billion FCFA.
The ministries concerned responded to the requests from the Court of Auditors. That of Health, for example, affirms that ” demand was clearly higher than supply in a climate of general panic where countries were not in a position to impose any price conformity on suppliers “.
Each year, the Court makes recommendations to remedy the shortcomings observed. For state operations, for example, less than half have been implemented. In civil society, some voices point to this low rate and evoke the persistence of certain practices over the years.