Annual general report of the controller and - Parliament of Tanzania

CHAPTER FIVE
INTERNAL CONTROL SYSTEMS
5.0 Introduction
This chapter deals with internal control issues that were
found to be material and worth to be reported in this general
annual report.
5.1 Internal control
Internal control is a key element of the Public Authorities
and other bodies, which involve continuosly monitoring and
improvement depending on the changes the business
environment is under going through some of the weaknesses
of the internal controls observed from a number of Public
Authorities and other Bodies audited in period under review
are listed below:
5.2 Improper Cancellation of Cheques
For control purposes, where a cheque is drawn and noted to
have significant error which could not allow it to proceed for
payments, that cheque will be cancelled for payment by
drawing two parallel lines with the word ‘cancelled’ on the
face of it. The control is put to prevent fraudulent actions
which might take place in case the cheque falls into the
hands of unfaithfull persons. A test check conducted on this
control among the undermentioned Public Authorities
revealed the following anomalies:
(i) Institute of Social Works
Review conducted at the Cashier’s desk noted 8
cheques worth Shs.7,761,200 which were fully signed by
signatories but not dispatched to the respective payees
due to the fact that they had some errors. The cashier
when interviewed said that the cheques had already
been replaced with correct cheques. This is very risky as
the same cheques could be used to draw money from
the accounts of the Institute.
___________________________________________________________
Office of the Controller and Auditor General PA&oBs 2007/08 97