The National Audit Office has revealed a troubling issue concerning media equipment purchased for the Presidential Media Division, which includes cameras and laptops worth a total of 14.2 million rupees. These items, totaling 3,406 pieces, were bought between 2015 and 2020 but have not been returned to the division.
According to the audit report, items valued at Rs. 162,273,185 were issued through the Presidential Secretariat’s warehouse management system from 2014 to January 2020. These items include 4 issued in 2014, 558 in 2015, 660 in 2016, 602 in 2017, 1,262 in 2018, 313 in 2019, and 7 in 2020.
The audit, dated February 22, 2021, noted that only three inventory books related to the Presidential Media Division were provided for review, and the missing equipment was not recorded in those books. A physical inspection of the media division’s inventory, conducted with a technical officer, confirmed that 133 items, worth approximately Rs. 21.9 million (21,888,958), were unaccounted for. However, engineers from the division assessed the value of the missing equipment to be around Rs. 3.5 million.
Upon further investigation, the audit team found no records of equipment purchased between 2015 and 2019, as indicated in a letter dated February 10, 2021 (PMD/ENG/VIDEO/21/02/II). Additionally, these items were not included in the division’s annual inventory surveys.
The report also highlighted that 21 items, taken by a single individual, have not been returned, and three items, including two cameras valued at approximately Rs. 2.5 million, have been issued to another individual without being returned.
