Annual general report of the controller and - Parliament of Tanzania

9.0 Introduction
CHAPTER NINE
ASSETS MANAGEMENT
Asset management refers to a comprehensive and
structured approach to the long term management of
assets as tools for the efficient and effective delivery of
community benefits. The emphasis of assets management is
on the assets being a means to an end, not an end in
themselves. 2 The assets represent the wealth owned by the
entities and therefore it is expected to be efficiently
managed.
Contrary to the expectations of the auditors having a
regard on the importance of the efficient management of
the assets, the audit for the year 2007/2008 still recorded
a number of anomalies in the management of non current
assets despite the fact that similar anomalies have been
consistently raised in the CAG management letters to
various audited entities. It is important to note that
mismanagement of non current assets has a direct link with
mismanaging of the entity’s wealth. Observations that were
considered substantial to be reported in respect of assets
management are shown in the proceeding paragraphs.
9.1 Poor Record Keeping and non Insuring of the assets
Record keeping for non current assets is a vital requirement
to our public organizations in the sense that, non
maintenance of a comprehensive non current assets
register which would give pertinent details regarding the
historical cost, date of purchase, accumulated
depreciation, net book value, supplier for each of the
reported assets and other key asset information, will
attract loss of the same unnoticed.
2
Picked from http://www.austroads.com.au/asset/whatisasset.html on 16/2/2009
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Office of the Controller and Auditor General PA&oBs 2007/08 167