The Mayor of Dushanbe, Rustam Emomali, has sent a request to the Accounts Chamber of Tajikistan to conduct a review of the financial and economic activities of the city administration for 2024.
"The request was made to ensure transparency and efficiency in the targeted use of budget funds by the executive authority of Dushanbe," the press service of the mayor's office reported.
This is not the first time Rustam Emomali has addressed relevant authorities to ensure transparency and effective use of budget funds in the capital.
Since 2017, when Rustam Emomali took charge of the Dushanbe mayor's office, he has annually, in January, requested relevant institutions to audit the financial activities of the city administration.
It is worth noting that Rustam Emomali has also previously approached Tajikistan’s anti-corruption agency. In 2018 and January 2019, he requested audits of the city administration's activities for 2017 and 2018.
At the time, the mayor sought clarification regarding citizen complaints about the misappropriation of budget funds within the Dushanbe administration, specifically related to the "Affordable Housing" project.
Following the mayor’s request, 69 construction projects, both ongoing and completed, were audited in Dushanbe for their use of budget funds. The audit uncovered discrepancies amounting to 7.8 million somonis.
To recall, in 2023, the Accounts Chamber of Tajikistan identified financial violations in state institutions totaling 405.6 million somonis, which was 28.8 million somonis more than the previous year. Of this amount, 398.5 million somonis, or 98.2%, was recovered, as reported early last year by the Accounts Chamber head, Qarakhon Chillazoda.
Among the identified violations, 63 million somonis were returned to the budget following audits in the Ministries of Economic Development, Transport, and Culture, the Committee for Environmental Protection, and the Forestry Agency. Following the audits, three individuals were held accountable, as stated by the head of the Accounts Chamber of Tajikistan during a press conference in February 2024.
