ADDIS ABABA – The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has disclosed that more than 1.5 billion Birr was spent on public property purchases in violation of procurement regulations, while approximately 241.5 million Birr remains as uncollected accounts receivable.
This revelation comes from a study conducted by the MoJ on the implementation of audit findings across 14 government institutions and 87 audit reports from the 2021 and 2022 fiscal years.
Ministry’s Federal Law Enforcement Office Prosecutor Hailegebriel Ayalew stated that the 241.5 million Birr in receivables could not be collected due to improper calculations and legal misinterpretations. Additionally, the study uncovered more than 10 billion Birr in uncollected taxes.
He emphasized that many property and equipment purchases were made outside the legally mandated procurement procedures. Specifically, over 1.5 billion Birr was spent without adhering to these guidelines.
Hailegebriel highlighted several recurring issues contributing to these audit findings, including weak internal control systems, ineffective and non-independent internal audits, and poor implementation of audit recommendations. He also noted the absence of a strong accountability framework and persistent challenges related to professional competence.
Furthermore, he criticized the Office of the Federal Auditor General (OFAG) for failing to forward audit reports involving criminal matters to the Ministry of Justice and for not initiating legal proceedings for financial irregularities. He argued that the lenient handling of such violations allows audit issues to persist year after year.
To address these problems, Hailegebriel called for stronger collaboration between the Ministry of Justice and OFAG. He stressed that audit reports should be comprehensive and include sufficient evidence to support accountability.
He also urged the House of People’s Representatives to develop and amend legal frameworks that would enforce civil liabilities for violations identified in audit findings.
MoJ’s Federal Law Enforcement Monitoring Director Haweni Tadesse expressed dissatisfaction with current efforts to address deficiencies and hold individuals accountable. She recommended that future audits involve coordination with relevant stakeholders to ensure that financial discrepancies are effectively addressed.
Haweni also noted that the Ministry of Justice, in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, has taken corrective actions against several university and senior institutional leaders. Criminal investigations into other audit findings are currently underway.
OFAG’s Deputy Auditor General Abera Tadesse remarked that the study presented by the Auditor General would help improve the audit process. He added that efforts are ongoing to strengthen human resources and foster better coordination with the Ministry of Justice and other stakeholders to resolve audit-related issues.
BY FIKADU BLAY
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SATURDAY 14 JUNE 2025
