Vision 2030 NDP identifies the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) which falls under the Ministry of Agriculture, as the entity responsible for agricultural roads. RADA’s 2015-18 Strategic Business Plan stated that the programmes put forward under the NDP, are intended to enhance production and productivity through a series of enabling interventions that would address the problems hampering production and simultaneously present opportunities for growth enhancement within the agricultural sector. Accordingly, RADA instituted a prioritization strategy, which entailed identifying roads it considered most in need of repairs and which when rehabilitated, would more likely contribute to the achievement of the National Vision.

The FY2019/20 Interim FPP provided a comparison of the FY2018/19 outturn relative to the budget outlined in the February FPP FY2018/19, in compliance with the FAA Act and the Auditor General’s recommendation reiterated in the February FY2019/20 FPP as well as a comparison of the outturn for April to July 2019/20 with the budget.

The efficient execution of the JCA’s functions is highly dependent on the use of Information Technology(IT) in its core processes. Given this dependence and the value of IT investments made over the years, the agency should implement the necessary controls to ensure that IT risks are managed in a structured manner. The JCA should also ensure that it can appropriately respond and continue to offer critical services in spite of technological disruptions.

In light of this, I commissioned an IT audit to determine whether the JCA has an effective Business Continuity Management System to ensure the timely resumption of critical services in the event of any serious interruptions. The audit revealed that the JCA did not have a Business Continuity Plan and its IT disaster recovery planning was limited to the failure of one application, though the agency was reliant on information maintained on several other systems. Consequently, the JCA may not be able to resume operations in a timely manner resulting in lengthy delays in the customs and clearance process for goods and passengers. We also found that though IT was a key business enabler, the JCA did not have an IT governance mechanism to ensure the systematic management of risk, proper resource allocation and the alignment of IT strategies with corporate objectives.

This report is intended to assist the JCA in improving its oversight of the IT function, risk management and continuity planning in order to reduce the likelihood and or impact of major disruptions on its operations. The management of the JCA is urged to implement the recommendations made in this report with a view to strengthen the agency’s controls and ensure the continuity of critical business services to its customers.