AMA’s Financial Management Flaws: A Road to Recovery?

The Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA) has acknowledged significant shortcomings in its financial management systems, particularly before the 2023 financial year, where many processes were still manual, leading to missing or poorly maintained critical documentation. During the presentation of the 2021–2022 Audit Report to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, AMA Financial Controller Ashika Naidu emphasized that the authority inherited numerous records with gaps, resulting in inconsistencies such as missing stale cheque registers and monthly bank reconciliations.

Many of the challenges, Naidu noted, have persisted since 2017, spanning several years of audit reviews. The lack of a digital record-keeping system has severely limited the AMA’s ability to effectively reconcile accounts, respond to long-standing audit queries, and track variances like uncashed cheques and unreconciled balances, due to poor filing systems and outdated processes.

However, Naidu reported progress with the transition to digital systems that have begun to resolve many outstanding issues, although she acknowledged that the work to fully rectify these concerns is ongoing.

In parallel, a recent audit revealed that the AMA was unable to substantiate a significant sum of reported salaries and expenses, alongside discrepancies in revenue management. These findings suggest ongoing concerns regarding the authority’s financial transparency, echoing similar issues faced by other governmental bodies.

There is a hopeful outlook as the AMA is actively working to rectify its financial management practices. Investments in new technologies and systems promise to strengthen governance and increase operational efficiency. As the AMA moves forward with its Strategic Development Plan for 2024-2026, which emphasizes supporting farmers and enhancing agricultural practices, there remains potential for significant improvement in financial accountability and operational integrity within the authority, ultimately benefiting the agricultural sector in Fiji.