Fraud mars Lilongwe City Council payroll

An internal memo at Lilongwe City Council has shown that the council’s payroll has been marred by fraud as employees are introduced on the payment sheet without following procedures.

The memo, dated May 17 and addressed to the council’s chief executive officer Kelvin Mmangisa, asks for corrective measures on the payroll.

“I wish to bring to your attention the recent discrepancies on the payroll which is tantamount to fraud. The Pronum accounting package on HRM [human resource management] has some flaws.

“The introduction of employees on the payroll and deletion is the responsibility of the finance directorate not human resource as the case is right now.

“HRM should only advise director of finance what needs to be taken,” reads the memo from acting finance deputy director a Mr. V. Mnjere.

Mmangisa on Wednesday confirmed receiving the memo, saying he is currently investigating the matter.

“That issue is true, but I don’t want to comment on it now because we are still investigating. It’s a serious allegation involving a number of officers, including some senior managers. We are working to resolve it,” said Mmangisa.

According to some council’s officials, about five people who were not supposed to be on the payroll have been paid three-month salaries in May 2012.