The TdC's position is reflected in its opinion on the 2021 State General Account (CGE), under discussion by the plenary of parliament, where the body makes a set of findings, presents shortcomings, non-conformities and recommendations on the financial year of that year.
"With regard to public expenditure, the CGE indicates that the National Public Procurement System (SNCP) registered 1578 procedures. What draws attention is the predominance of the simplified public procurement procedure", refers the TdC.
According to the supervisory body of the State's accounts, the significant adoption of simplified contracting procedures for contracting works, goods or services "contrasts with the objectives defined by the Executive's Economic Policy, particularly the improvement of the quality of the public procurement process" .
Simplified hiring, especially direct adjustments, has been a resource used repeatedly by President João Lourenço, a mechanism criticized several times by the political opposition and civil society, for translating into alleged "corruption schemes".
The TdC's opinion on the CGE for 2021 indicates that this year 508 simplified contracts, 473 public tenders, 410 invitation-only tenders, 30 dynamic electronic procedures, 76 emergency contracts and 81 limited tenders based on prior qualification were registered and authorized.
The judicial body also points to the "absence" of a "consolidated report" on the execution of the Executive's Economic Policy, similar to the 2018-2022 PDN (National Development Plan) Report.
"It is a notorious aspect. In addition, the 2021 CGE appears to contain insufficient information on the implementation of the aforementioned Economic Policy", reads the document, which also says it finds "insufficient execution" of arrears payments not registered in the Integrated System of State Financial Management (SIGFE).
Regarding the Employability Support and Promotion Program (PAPE), the CGE "lacks" detailed information on the plan's execution.
The "only information available" is the approval of the budget for its implementation, which is set at 21 billion kwanzas, he observes.
According to the TdC, the 2021 Budget Execution Control Report, prepared by the Technical Group of Financial Controllers, reveals that, during the execution of the 2021 OGE, 4133 non-conformities were detected in 114 selected bodies totaling 674.8 billion kwanzas.
Absence of supporting documents (such as contracts, invoices, receipts, terms of delivery, physical and financial schedules, measurement records); expenditures made in inappropriate budget categories; acquisition of capital goods without proper formalization of the patrimonial process are among the "irregularities" found.
The non-inventory of acquired assets, violation of public procurement rules and acts of public impropriety also complete the "irregularities" found by the Court of Auditors.
The report also highlights that 90 bodies, including the central structure of the State, diplomatic and consular missions, in addition to several other entities located in the provinces, did not carry out the execution of the OGE 2021 through the SIGFE, making a total of 475 billion kwanzas .
This opinion for the financial year 2021 assesses the financial activity of the State, covering the accounts of 696 budgetary units, 4582 dependent bodies and 46,826 users that make up the sovereign bodies, central and local administration, as well as the Social Security account.
