Ifmis delays Malawi pension payments: Accountant General urges integrity for new system users
Pensioners will have to wait a little longer before getting their pension as the department of Accountant General says this is due to technical problems with the Integrated Financial Management Information Systems (Ifmis).
The department says pensioners were expected to receive their monthly pension on June 14, 2020 the official day.
“Due to this technical problem, pensioners will have a slight delay in receiving their monthly pension, latest by 17th June, 2020,” says the statement.
The department says staff are working tirelessly to rectify the problem and ensure that pensioners their monthly dues within the specified period.
Meanwhile, Accountant General in the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development, Sungani Mandala has advised public officers to have integrity when using the new Ifmis when transacting government business.
The new system, which is expected to be operational on July 1, will provide Malawians with improved financial management services through timely production of financial statements to promote transparency and accountability, enhance planning and budgeting processes as well as security in processing government financial transactions, among others.
Speaking during the official opening ceremony of Ifmis end-users training over the weekend in Blantyre, Mandala said although government is implementing the system to tighten controls that will enhance accountability of public resources, there is no way it can achieve its intended purpose without the integrity of officers who will be using the new Ifmis.
“If the people operating the system do not have integrity, the system on its own cannot control abuse of public resources and its associated misreporting,” he said.
In his remarks, Secretary for the Department of Human Resources Management and Development, Hilario Chimota described the training as an asset in ensuring that government has skilled human resource to properly operate the system.
