admittedly not all Missions were in this position, our audit of the Brasilia Mission had revealed that the average monthly cash holding was P22 000 000 in the local currency bank account and P5 000 000 in the dollar account against monthly payments of less than P1 000 000 in the months in which rentals were not paid and close to P2 000 000 when rentals were paid. Other Missions in similar situations were Johannesburg Consulate and Pretoria High Commission. 

In my view, cash resources to be made available to the Missions should be in line with their budgetary and any other specific requirements, such as payments on behalf of other Ministries or Government agencies. 

## 80. Audit of Accounts – Botswana Embassy, Brasilia 

The audit of the accounts of Botswana diplomatic mission in Brasilia, Brazil for the 6 months’ period from April to September 2017 had given rise to a number of observations, the main ones of which were the following- 

(a) An examination of the cash book and related records for the period under review had revealed that the Mission held cash far in excess of their monthly requirements. For example, except for the months in which quarterly payments for rentals were made, the monthly expenditures were consistently around P600 000 whereas the cash holdings were well above P22 000 000. This had resulted in the excess being invested and earned interest totalling P1 824 714 in the 6-months period under review. In my view, the cash holdings in the Missions should be in line with their requirements and above that, the cash resources should form part of Government cash balances at Bank of Botswana. 

(b) The estimated revenue for the Mission was P1 820 000 which comprised the undeterminable item of Sundry Receipts  in the amount of P910 000, Interest on Deposit  P800 000 and Private Telephone recoveries  with P110 000. Although the Mission subscribes to a medical aid scheme with the possibilities of claims and recoveries of expenses paid directly to the service providers, there was no provision for this prospect in the estimates nor for the refunds of VAT. The Accounting Officer’s clarification has been sought and is awaited. 

