MEFMI Trains Zimbabwean Auditors on Debt Management System

Sound practice in public debt management requires that internal and external audits be conducted regularly to enhance transparency and accountability of public debt operations. Specifically, audits are necessary to improve reliability and integrity of financial and operational information; effectiveness and efficiency of debt management operations; effectiveness of the internal control system; and compliance with public debt laws and regulations. However, most Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) in the MEFMI region lack the necessary technical capacity and skills to effectively perform this oversight function, which is an important link in the chain of accountability for public expenditure decisions and use of public resources.

As part of its efforts to address the existing weaknesses in the member countries, MEFMI conducted a training for officials in the Office of the Auditor-General (OAG) in Zimbabwe on audit of the Debt Management and Financial Analysis System (DMFAS) from 19 to 30 November 2018 in Harare, Zimbabwe. DMFAS is a computer-based system for recording and reporting public debt data and related information. The main objective of the training was to strengthen the Office of the Auditor-General’s capacity to undertake effective auditing of public debt management information systems, particularly DMFAS. It also aimed at widening the pool of competent auditors to serve the transparency and accountability pillar of public debt management in Zimbabwe.     

A total of 30 officials participated in the workshop, comprising 8 (or 27 percent) females and 22 (73 percent) males. The training was facilitated by an audit expert of the Office of the Auditor-General in Kenya, Ms. Josephine Warega, and DMFAS experts, namely, Messrs Emmanuel Ssemambo of the Bank of Uganda and Tawanda Mavhima, Henry Dutiro and Frank Mashodo of the Public Debt Management Office in the Ministry of Finance, Zimbabwe.

In the first week of the workshop, participants received basic training on DMFAS, including the scope and characteristics of the system, how it is structured and managed, its applications and how it is integrated with other debt management activities. The objective was to enhance participants’ understanding of the system’s functionalities, information flows, controls and related risks in view of inherent public debt’s operation flow risks.

In the second week, participants learnt the INTOSAI standards and guidelines relating to public debt management information systems. Participants were put into three (3) groups, and assigned specific tasks, including preparing audit design matrices for performing tests on general controls, operational controls and data, and audit trail for the entire spectrum of the DMFAS.

On the last day of the training, each group presented its work to the plenary, which was refined with guidance from Audit and DMFAS User experts. The refined submissions were thereafter consolidated and finalized as a standard audit matrix. It is expected that the matrix will guide the pilot DMFAS audit envisaged in 2019, and subsequent audits of the system going forward.

The main output of the training is that it equipped officials with practical knowledge and capacity to undertake effective auditing of DMFAS. Specifically:

• Participants had a clear understanding of the scope and characteristics of the DMFAS, its applications and how it is integrated with other debt management activities. At the end of the workshop, participants could navigate through the DMFAS on their own;
• It enhanced participants understanding of the evolving international best practices in auditing public debt information systems, based on the on-going international work to develop relevant guidelines within the network of supreme audit institutions;
• The training widened the pool of competent auditors to serve the transparency and accountability pillar of the national development programmes in Zimbabwe; and

A standard audit design matrix was developed, and is expected to guide a pilot DMFAS audit envisaged for 2019