05 Aug 2015

The deputy permanent secretary in the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture, Mr Peter Mongwaketse says the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) continues to register a lot of corruption allegations in the Youth Development Fund (YDF) programme.

Speaking during a YDF workshop in Gaborone this week, Mr Mongwaketse said the ministry’s anti-corruption unit was inundated with complaints and allegations ranging from favouritism and conflict of interest, deficient monitoring mechanisms and non-compliance to guidelines.

He said an audit on YDF processes and procedures of administration was being conducted with a hope that recommendations to be made would address the problems the programme was currently facing.

Mr  Mongwaketse said it was hoped that in the end the audit would assist the ministry to curb corrupt practices and address other inherent administrative and ethical risks.

“This workshop therefore serves a very important and specific purpose and objective of ensuring that the YDF is administered in an efficient and effective manner and more especially in a corrupt free environment,” he said. 

Mr Mongwaketse said the ministry has established an anti-corruption unit whose responsibility was to monitor transactions and conduct preliminary investigations, even though the structures were considered effective.

He said upon completion of the audit, a report would be produced containing findings and recommendations for improvement and further tabled before the ministry to appreciate and start implementation of agreed recommendations.

He called on all Batswana to put measures in place and unite against corruption in order to drive Botswana forward as a corrupt free country.

Giving a project overview, Youth Development Fund audit officer, Ms Botho Samunzala said they embarked on reviewing and interrogating YDF procedures and practices to ensure transparency and eliminate loopholes that may attract corruption.

She said they have conducted interviews with YDF project officers at different regions of which they were drafting a report which would be presented to the ministry to implement its recommendations.

 

MS Samunzala said the YDF audit aims to improve service delivery and cultivate an entrepreneurial culture among young people. Ends