Research has shown how failure by governments to implement strict controls over per diem allowance has encouraged opportunistic bureaucrats to reap undue monetary benefits from the system.
That while there may be unintended distortion of the per diem system which may be viewed as a mere slippery slope, the system also presents opportunities for outright fraud and corruption.
Botswana’s public service ‘General Orders’ section 109 defines per diem as allowance for officers travelling abroad in the course of their official duties which allowance is intended to cover the cost of accommodation, meals, laundry, gratuities, transport, and incidental expenses.
Nowhere in the General Orders does it indicate per diem allowance as being meant for anything other than the costs listed above or as some form of remuneration.
It has however come as a shock as to how former Permanent Secretary to President (PSP), and former Director of the Directorate of Public Service Management Carter Morupisi, having been trusted with the responsibility of being the custodian of the Public Service Act, General Orders and all other provisions guiding the conduct of public service, may have missed this very important provision.
The former DPSM Director was recently listed per diem as part of his ‘income’ in his court documents in an attempt to justify how he could afford to purchase a P500, 000 worth of Toyota Land Cruiser, which vehicle was the subject of a corruption case. Morupisi told the court that the sources of funds for paying for the vehicle were from either deposits into his FNB account directly or deposits into his Barclays (now ABSA) account.
He made reference to his own salary at the time of the alleged crime, and monthly pension from Botswana Public Officers Pensions Fund (BPOPF) where he was chairman, among other sources of income.
Most notable was however his reference to his “per diem on external official trips which is not refundable to government”. It is not clear how government per diem allowance, which is meant for expenses on official trips, could help the former PSP and DPSM purchase a Toyota Land Cruiser.
While Sunday Standard cannot point to any wrong doing by Morupisi in the personal utilization of his per diem allowance, a study ‘The Uses and Abuses of Travel Compensation in Three Developing Countries’ has found that inadequate or ineffective controls in relation to per diem in most cases lead to irregularities and fraud.
“Even if per diems seem restricted to specific situations, they are usually considered a form of duty-facilitating (i.e. discretionary) allowance since they depend on a manager’s approval of
participation in a meeting or trip. For many civil servants allowances of all kinds, including travel-related per diems, contribute significantly to their total income,” says the 2012 study by Chr. Michelsen Institute and commissioned by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad).
In Botswana, per diem for senior officers in the rank of F- scale or above enjoy a greater share of per diem in the form of “entertainment allowance” as provided for by the General Orders. The entertainment allowance equals 25 percent of the total per diem allowance for the trip. The Chr. Michelsen Institute found that irregularities are difficult to notice because bureaucratic institutions are built on trust and managers are trusted with the responsibility to make decisions of travel allowances.
“To organize seminars and send staff on domestic or foreign trips are management decisions. A decision-maker with oversight responsibility is authorized to allow part of the department’s budget to be spent on travel-related expenses,” The study says. It says management decisions may lead to four categories of consequences: (a) intended compensation- where the system covers travel expenses efficiently; (b) indirect, informal performance reward- where per diem payments are perceived as a bonus; (c) unintended distortion of incentives for those involved (less time in office, too much time spent on seminars); and (d) outright fraud and corruption. Three African countries Ethiopia, Malawi, and Tanzania were the subjects of the research.
