The Auditor General’s report flags the Presidential Palace for failing to follow good governance practices.
Specifically, the report found weaknesses on the way the Presidential Palace handles its internal affairs on eleven grounds:
1.Absence of regulations concerning the Advisers to the Presidency and the Presidential Commissioners.
2. In some cases, officers seconded to the Presidency took up their duties before their secondment was approved by the Public Service Commission.
3. Purchase of services by third parties without the issuing of tenders and signing of contracts.
4. The amount allocated for conferences and seminars abroad in the Palace’s annual budget increased from €454,166 in 2016 to €1,000,429 in 2017, without approval.
5, Purchase of airplane tickets without the issuing of tenders for travel agencies.
6. Incomplete updating of mileage log books of the Presidential Palace’s vehicles.
7. Use of a service car for personal reasons.
8. Failure by the Presidential Palace’s employees to comply with the time-of-arrival to work policy.
9. Failure to prepare a Register of Mobile Property.
10. Failure to keep works of art in safe conditions.
11. Failure to submit a physical inventory to the Treasury of the Republic.
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