AG gets more powers to tackle public sector corruption
In an effort to crack down on public sector corruption, financial fraud and irregularities the Auditor General (AG)’s Department will be given wide powers by amending the National Audit Act No 08 of 2018 soon, Finance Ministry sources said.
The new amendment of the National Audit Act will enable the AG to levy surcharges on officers, including Chief Accounting Officers (CAO), for failure to appropriately discharge responsibility for oversight and accountability for use of public resources.
According to the proposed draft bill, the AG will be allowed to share findings, preliminary or otherwise, with law enforcement authorities for possible criminal investigation into fraud and corruption revealed by the audit query, prior to the full report being tabled in Parliament.
The Ministry of Justice recently revealed that the AG has had little control in the hiring, promotion, and firing of officers, as well as limited involvement in budget setting and allocation.
The creation of the Audit Service Commission was intended to strengthen resource management, but there has been no positive impact, it added.
According to the official procedure, a report is filed with the CAO of the ministry or state entity being audited for the imposition of a surcharge on the value of the deficiency or loss in each of the entity’s transactions.
Amending this provision is to allow for the direct reporting and imposition of surcharge by the AG which would address the current procedural challenges that have interfered with the effective utilisation of this power.
It has been revealed that since the 2018 Act came into force, no officials have been subject to surcharges, despite its significant provision for holding them personally – financially –accountable for failure to prevent or remedy actions associated with fraud and corruption.
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