NetOne Fingered in $82million Mishandled, Allocated As Covid Relief Funds

State Owned Mobile Network Operator NetOne which was given the sole responsibility to distiribute $89 022 103 for Covid 19 relief funds has been reported to have Mishandled the funds, according to the latest Auditor General’s report.

While the processing of payments
was done by the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Head Office.

The COVID19 relief allowances payments were processed through Net One mobile money platform

The auditor general Mrs Mildred Chiri stated that NetOne was at fault as they failed to stop fraudulent activity in their network as.

“No reconciliations were done with the mobile money service provider to
confirm whether all the payments reached the intended beneficiaries as
there were instances where the mobile money service provider issued:
 Two (2) different Net One lines to the same individual,
 Net One lines which were not uploaded with the allowances to
beneficiaries.
 Batches of sim cards to incorrect Districts or Provinces resulting in
non-collection of the allowances by intended beneficiaries.”

She added that According to information availed for audit, a total amount of $89 022 103 was
disbursed to beneficiaries from May 19, 2020 to December 12, 2020.

1. My audit visits to six (6) provinces namely Matabeleland South, Manicaland, Masvingo,
   Midlands, Mashonaland West and Central Provinces indicated that the intended
   objectives of the intervention may not have been achieved for the period under review.
   The main reasons that caused the failure were as follows:
   I. The processes of identification and assessment of intended beneficiaries
   was not properly coordinated, resulting in the following anomalies: –
    Unreliable databases of beneficiaries,
    Processing of payments to duplicate beneficiary names and
   beneficiaries who had similar identity numbers but different gender
   and dates of birth; Annexure B refers,
    Processing of payments to beneficiaries with fictitious identity
   numbers and suspicious names, incorrect and insufficient contact
   addresses; Annexure C refers
    Use of similar contact addresses for beneficiaries in Districts
   II. No follow up mechanism was developed to verify existence of the
   beneficiaries and whether the allowances had reached the intended
   beneficiaries.
   III. No feedback in the form of pay sheets were provided by the Ministry of
   Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Head Office to Provincial and
   District Offices regarding the names of beneficiaries who had qualified and
   had been paid the COVID 19 relief allowances to facilitate confirmation of
   receipt and reconciliations.
   IV. No reconciliations were done with the mobile money service provider to
   confirm whether all the payments reached the intended beneficiaries as
   there were instances where the mobile money service provider issued:
    Two (2) different Net One lines to the same individual,
    Net One lines which were not uploaded with the allowances to
   beneficiaries.
    Batches of sim cards to incorrect Districts or Provinces resulting in
   non-collection of the allowances by intended beneficiaries