A further investigation will be conducted into the procurement of goods and services related to the 52nd Asian Development Bank Annual General Meeting held in 2019, amidst concerns of potential mismanagement within the Ministry of Civil Services.
During a parliamentary session, Esrom Immanuel, Chair of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, proposed a motion to discuss the special investigation report on this procurement issue. The Ministry of Civil Service was tasked with organizing the international event, which saw over 3,000 participants from 76 countries.
As the hosting nation, the previous government allocated $10 million for the event, but the final costs totaled $10.9 million, raising questions about financial transparency and fund management. The Assistant Minister for Finance noted that the Auditor General’s report, which sparked the investigation, uncovered several critical issues, including potential fraud, violations of financial regulations, and conflicts of interest in vendor selections.
Key findings indicated that the Auditor General identified substantial evidence of fraud in certain payments made. Immanuel pointed out that the investigation revealed delays in handling major contracts and inefficiencies in fund management. He stressed the importance of the investigation in implementing necessary reforms, while also criticizing the lengthy delay in presenting the report, which was completed in December 2020 but only shared with Parliament in May 2023.
Speaker Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu has invoked Standing Order 20 to delegate the matter to the public accounts sub-committee for further examination and will await their findings.