Correspondent|The Courts Administration Fund is not in a good state as a result of failure to have a reliable accounting system by the Zimbabwe Judicial Service Commission (JSC), the Auditor General Mildred Chiri has submitted.

The fund was established to cater for operations of the court after the 2008 economic meltdown.

In her latest report for the financial year ended December 31, 2017, Chiri slammed the JSC for failing to have a reliable accounting system in relation to the Courts Administration Fund (CAF).

She said despite having a computerised accounting system, asset depreciation in the CAF was still calculated by individuals leaving room for human error.

“I noted that although the accounting system was computerised, the depreciation figure of $2 738 304 was manually calculated.

“I am concerned that the problem has not been resolved since 2015 when the Fixed Assets Module in the system malfunctioned,” she noted.

Chiri recommended that the JSC should engage with the provider of the accounting system to prevent future malfunctions.

“The reliability of the financial statements may be doubtful as errors can be made on calculations.

“Management should engage the service provider to reset the system,” she said

The JSC stated that for the year ended December 31, 2016, CAF had a surplus of $1 968 265 on its income statement and total assets worth $13 043 475.

Chiri agreed with the JSC’s financial statement and said it fairly presented “in all material aspects” the financial position of the CAF for that period but she insisted on the need of repairing the accounting system malfunction that has stretched for three years without attention.

Apart from being the stewards of the administration of the courts, the JSC is also mandated to to ensure that there is easy access to justice for the people of Zimbabwe.

M&T