Our Governorates' Operations: Between Facts and Financial Governance

Episode No. (7)

● SAACB audit report on the operations of the governorates: Jenin and Salfit for the year 2023, and Qalqilya Governorate for the year 2022..(the northern governorates)

● The state of operations in some of the country's governorates does not seem far removed from the condition of some of our centers of responsibility, with the presence of violations and material observations that require correction and remediation, as the report for the three governorates shows a dire need to implement strict financial and administrative governance and to activate internal control to ensure transparency and accountability!

● In our review of three reports prepared by the State Audit and Administrative Control Bureau (SAACB) for the three governorates mentioned above for the respective years indicated above, the Bureau examined several areas, such as: internal control, financial and administrative affairs, supplies, humanitarian aid, donations, etc. It was found that all three governorates suffer from weak internal control, lack of financial and administrative documentation, and absence of standards for disbursing allowances and assistance!

● As for the violations specific to each governorate, they centered on disbursing funds and grants outside the system, poor human resources management, and specific aspects of financial management such as: bank reconciliations, and data protection, in general!

● I summarize below some of the common violations in the three governorates; for example:

1-Weak internal control, and failure to activate it..where the internal control department in each governorate was not properly activated, which affected the follow-up of financial and administrative operations.

2-Absence or weakness of documentation of financial transactions, where it was found that there were no receipt minutes for aid or donations, and there were insufficient supporting documents (documents, papers, receipts and records, etc.) for financial transactions!

3-The absence of clear standards for disbursing allowances, cash and in-kind assistance, and sometimes reliance on personal estimation!

4-Warehouse and supplies records are incomplete; for example, there is no periodic inventory or reconciliation of balances and assets, which weakens transparency!

5-Use of resources or assets without sufficient oversight, and such resources and assets include government vehicles, fuel disbursements, grants...and such uses are carried out outside the official system!

● Examples of individual violations for each governorate☹for example, not limited to:

● Jenin Governorate: failure to record support funds and grants (popular support, the Qatari grant, the emergency fund) in the "Bisan" accounting system, and disbursing the Qatari grant (500,000 dollars) outside the government system, without oversight or clear standards.!

● Salfit Governorate: absence of receipt minutes for in-kind aid upon receipt, lack of evidence and procedures for the Social Solidarity Fund, which reduces procedural clarity!

● Qalqilya Governorate: violations in day-labor contracts, inaccurate documentation of in-kind and cash donations, failure to record the expenses of the Coronavirus pandemic, and exceeding fuel ceilings for some vehicles.!