Duties and Responsibilities of Head of Stores

There shall be a Central Stores which shall be headed by Stores Superintendent with the following responsibilities:

  1. Exercise supervision and control of all stores and staff

  2. Carry out regular inspection of all stores and as the occasion arises, report to the Director of Finance or his/her representative on all cases of losses and irregularities

  3. Ensure that accommodation is adequate and suitable for the proper storage of all stores

  4. Compare from time to time physical stock and Cardex/Ledger balances particularly of articles of a perishable nature

  5. Ensure that adequate fire-fighting appliances are installed at strategic points at the stores premises and maintained in good order.

  6. Arrange for the boarding of all unserviceable store items and ensure that disposal instructions are obtained from the proper authority and carried out accordingly

  7. Arrange for the periodic examination of scales and weights and measures to ensure that they are in good condition

  8. Train Stores Assistants and other Junior Officers in storekeeping practices

  9. Stock items in bulk which are supplied on request

  10. Keep under lock and key the following documents when they are not in use:

    1. Combined Requisition and Issue Voucher (C R & I V).

    2. Stores Receipt Voucher

    3. Cardex

    4. Internal Requisition Voucher

    5. Transfer Issue Voucher

    6. Stores Requisition Form

    7. Tally Cards

    8. Daily Cards

    9. Daily Summary of Fuel Issue

    10. Staff Fuel Debit Book

    11. Stores Issues Voucher(Monthly Statement of Stores Supplies and Issues (MSSSI).

Overseas Supplies

  1. On receipt of relevant shipping documents for overseas orders, the invoices shall be sorted out and copies given to Heads of Department/ Section/ Unit/ Centre who ordered the goods to enable them to check the goods on arrival.

  2. On receipt of goods from the harbour, they shall be delivered to the Central Stores. Ordering Departments/Sections/Units/Centres shall open each package, check the contents and ensure that the items agree with those on the invoice in the presence of the Audit and the Head of Stores. They shall then sign the waybills and invoices, certifying them to be correct.

  3. Immediately the items are received, they shall be recorded in the Departmental goods receipt book with all the particulars as to date of receipt, description, invoice number, source of supply and value. This book shall be subject to audit examination.

Control of Stock

In operating the unallocated stores system alongside direct purchases by Departments/Sections/Units/ Centres, the Head of Stores shall ensure that no excessive stocks are carried in the stores.

Maximum Stock in the Central Stores

At any particular time, the value of stocks in hand at the Central Stores shall not exceed a sum approved by the University from time to time. If this figure is exceeded, the Director of Finance shall call the Head of Stores' attention to this and ask for an explanation. Where it is found that certain items are surplus to requirements, steps shall be taken to dispose off such “unwanted items”.

Receipt and Issue of Stores

  1. Purchases for Central Stores shall be made by the Procurement Unit on advice of the Head of Stores as to the items required. The Head of Stores shall issue a Purchase Request Form for the purchase. In ordering stores the Head of Stores shall consult the appropriate consumer Departments/Sections/Units /Centres

  2. On receipt of the stores, the items shall be checked and inspected for quality before they are taken on charge by preparing a Stores Receipt Voucher which shall be submitted to the Director of Finance

  3. All requests by Departments/Sections/ Units/Centres for stores shall be submitted to the Central Stores on Combined Requisition and Issue Voucher [CR& IV] forms signed by the Head of Department/Section/Unit/Centre concerned and stating the work for which the stores are required. The CR & IV shall then be sent to the Directorate of Internal Audit for pre-auditing and then to the Estimates Sections in the Directorate of Finance for Commitment

  4. After registration of the requisition by the Storekeeper, the Combined Requisition and Issue Voucher shall be taken to the Head of Stores or his/her assistant who shall authorise the issue by initialling it

  5. On presentation of the CR & IV to the Storekeeper, the stores shall be issued and the quantities entered by the Storekeeper in words for the officer collecting the stores to sign in the column provided. The first three copies of the voucher shall then be detached leaving the quadruplicate copy in the book to serve as a waybill

  6. The Storekeeper, after making the necessary entries on his or her tally cards, shall return the voucher to the Stores Officer where the clerk-in-charge of the stores ledgers will price and pass it to the next officer for extension. This officer shall in turn pass on the voucher for checking before the goods are issued. The triplicate copy which serves as an invoice shall be sent to the requisitioning officer, while the duplicate copy shall be used by the Stores Accounts Office for preparation of monthly statements and to support entries on the ledgers and tally cards.

Low Stock Advice

The Storekeepers shall at the end of each week examine their tally cards and submit Low Stock Advice to the Head of Stores in respect of items that have reached or fallen below the minimum stock level for replenishment.

Advice on Issues to Departments/Sections/Units/Centres

At the end of each month, and not later than the middle of the following month, Stores Section shall issue a Statement of Stores Issued to Departments/Sections/Units/Centres with copies to the Directorate of Finance. On receipts of such statement, Heads of Department/Section/Unit/Centre shall record the issue in their votes register if they have not already done so.