Ombudsman Grace Malera has recommended the Auditor General (AG) to carry out extensive forensic investigations into misleading financial records on how K17.2 billion Covid-19 funds were plundered.

The recommendation follows findings of a systematic investigation in the utilisation of the funds by five districts of Phalombe, Zomba, Ntcheu, Lilongwe and Karonga.

She said: “This was a follow-up activity on the earlier investigations which we did titled ‘Misplaced Priorities’ so after that there were activities which government carried out.”

Ombudsman Malera said to safeguard the integrity of financial management system, District Commissioners should initiate an internal audit for Covid-19 funds.

“We are calling on government and controlling officers to rethink and re-strategise on some of the financial planning that is going on,” Malera said.

She added that Councils need to hold accountable those officers responsible for irregularities uncovered during the investigation.

“Issues of efficiency and effectiveness based programming, this where certainly the inputs that go into implementing an activity, ordinarily shouldn’t have a high cost than the benefits of that activity,” she observed.

Among other findings, the report uncovered that a single person received allowances on behalf of over 20 officers, allowances were paid to people who never attended activities, allowances were paid to officers who were at their duty stations doing routine work and allowances were paid to officers who gave an apology not to attend a meeting.

The investigation also found that there was over-expenditure on fuel  without an explanation, and in some cases the fuel purchased just for one district amounted to 200 round trips between Lilongwe and Blantyre.