What OIG Inspected

OIG inspected the executive direction, policy and program implementation, resource management, and information management operations of Embassy Harare.  

What OIG Found:

• The Ambassador and Deputy Chief of Mission led Embassy Harare in a professional and collaborative manner.
• Department of State and interagency stakeholders praised Embassy Harare’s reporting on human rights and civil society repression, sanctions, and strategic competition as being particularly strong.
• The embassy paid its locally employed staff in cash with U.S. dollars for more than a decade without the required approvals from the Department of the Treasury. The payment in U.S. dollars resulted in additional transaction costs of $276,000 over 2 fiscal years.
• The Consular Section had some deficiencies in employee orientation and training, fraud prevention program management, and recordkeeping
• The embassy lacked systematic processes for the approval of foreign assistance proposals and for the coordination of foreign assistance programs across agencies.
• Embassy Harare had deficiencies in property management, the fire protection program, and time and attendance procedures.
• The financial management office did not have standard procedures to track and process employee accounts receivables. 

What OIG Recommends 

OIG made 17 recommendations to Embassy Harare. In its comments on the draft report, the embassy concurred with all 17 recommendations. OIG considers all 17 recommendations resolved. The embassy’s response to each recommendation and OIG’s reply can be found in the Recommendations section of this report. The embassy’s formal response is reprinted in its entirety in Appendix B.