constituteproject.org PDF generated: 26 Sep 2013, 21:49 PART 4 SAFEGUARDING OF PUBLIC FUNDS AND PROPERTY 308 Duties of custodians of public funds and property (1) In this section-• "public funds" includes any money owned or held by the State or any institution or agency of the government, including provincial and local tiers of government, statutory bodies and government-controlled entities; • "public property" means any property owned or held by the State or any institution or agency of the government, including provincial and local tiers of government, statutory bodies and government-controlled entities. (2) It is the duty of every person who is responsible for the expenditure of public funds to safeguard the funds and ensure that they are spent only on legally authorised purposes and in legally authorised amounts. (3) It is the duty of every person who has custody or control of public property to safeguard the property and ensure that it is not lost, destroyed, damaged, misapplied or misused. (4) An Act of Parliament must provide for the speedy detection of breaches of subsections (2) and (3) and the disciplining and punishment of persons responsible for any such breaches and, where appropriate, the recovery of misappropriated funds or property. PART 5 AUDITOR-GENERAL 309 Auditor-General and his or her functions (1) There must be an Auditor-General, whose office is a public office but does not form part of the Civil Service. (2) The functions of the Auditor-General are-(a) to audit the accounts, financial systems and financial management of all departments, institutions and agencies of government, all provincial and metropolitan councils and all local authorities; (b) at the request of the Government, to carry out special audits of the accounts of any statutory body or government-controlled entity; (c) to order the taking of measures to rectify any defects in the management and safeguarding of public funds and public property; and (d) to exercise any other functions that may be conferred or imposed on him or her by or under an Act of Parliament. (3) Public officers must comply with orders given to them by the Auditor-General in terms of subsection (2)(c). Zimbabwe 2013 Page 132