THE National Assembly has directed the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) to conduct a comprehensive audit of various local government projects managed by the Tanzania Building Agency (TBA) following concerns over incomplete work and mismanaged funds.

Halima Mdee, chairperson of the Local Authorities Accounts Committee (LAAC), made this demand in presenting the committee’s annual report, noting that the committee identified delays in the completion of a significant number of projects.

This undermines their intended benefits and contradicts the government's broader development goals, she said, pointing at the need for the CAG to audit t administrative building projects in Kiteto, Kibiti and Ifakara districts in Manyara, Coast and Morogoro regions respectively.

Kilosa District Council used 3.7bn/- for its administrative building project, with 1bn/- (26 percent of total funds) already paid to TBA, and just 22.6 percent of project works were completed by the time the committee dwelt on the issue, she said.

The project had stalled despite the substantial payment, raising serious questions about the efficiency and accountability of the contractors, she said, also pointing at a district hospital project in Ifakara.

Despite TBA receiving full payment for the work, only 65 percent of the project was finished, leading to the council seeking 342.9m/- additional funding to complete the work as its funds were exhausted, the report indicated.

Perhaps most alarming was the ongoing saga surrounding the administrative building project in Ifakara municipality. Originally budgeted at 7.4bn/-, the project has experienced multiple delays.

By the time the committee was finishing its report, 47 percent of the work had been completed with TBA being paid 4.7bn/- beyond the original budgeted funds, she further noted.

There was overpayment of 189.5m/- for an administrative building project with some funds returned, but 126.3m/- was still non-refunded, she said.

Further reports revealed that contractors had abandoned some projects altogether and failed to repay debts amounting to 774.1m/-.

Other district councils, such as Kakonko in Kigoma Region and Kibiti experienced delays and violations of payment procedures, the report noted.

For instance, the Kibiti District Council’s contractor requested a change in payment methods after delays, contrary to established regulations, it said.

In Nyasa District, Ruvuma Region, an administrative building project had 3.83bn/- paid, with 390.9m/- diverted for unintended purposes and 500m/- returned to the Treasury due to further delays.

In Ngorongoro District, Arusha Region delays led to a 371.9m/- increase in costs, it said, pointing at widespread violations of payment procedures.

Substantial financial losses resulted from incomplete work and contractor mismanagement, demanding that the Ministry of Finance take immediate action to address the issues and ensure that public funds are not further misused, she added.