PAC: Give Auditor General more teeth

The report said the AGD is a watchdog that supports good governance, flags any issues of concern, sets standards and minimises the chances for graft.

While AGD – under the Exchequer and Audit Act – audits Ministries and Departments, the PAC urged that the Minister of Finance – under the Companies Act section 159 – also appoint the AGD as auditor of State Enterprises.

This would give the Government greater oversight of funds it allocates to State Enterprises, said the report’s executive summary.

The PAC report urged a trio of measures for deter corruption, including reform of procurement and campaign financing. “The proclamation of the procurement legislation, the establishment of a watchdog institution to monitor campaign financing, together with the strengthening of the autonomy and independent of the AGD will go a long way in the establishing the basis for greater transparency, accountability and value for money and responsibility.” Further, the PAC urged that the whole architecture of the Public Service must be “rethought and redesigned”, so as to “support creativity, competitiveness, innovation and sustainable development, in an ever-changing, dynamic and unpredictable 21st century world”.

The PAC urged more independence for the AGD.

“The Auditor General’s Office needs to be more autonomous in its function. It must be re-established as financially independent and must be able to independently recruit technically- competent personnel.

The legislation required for these needs to be brought to Parliament.” New legislation must provide for independent external auditors to audit the AGD to eliminate any perception of a conflict of interest between the AGD and the Treasury’s Comptroller of Accounts, as each institution audits the other.

The report wanted more teeth for the AGD. Lamenting the failings of the Ministries and Departments – tardiness of reporting, none-compliance, failure to follow rules, lack of security of documents, errors and unprofessional standards – the PAC urged new legislation to give the AGD more bite.

“The AGD be empowered to enforce compliance by Government institutions under its jurisdiction rather than simply report recruiting issues year after year.” Via the Public Service Commission (PSC), additional staff for the AGD should be provided before March 30, urged the PAC.

Under “Issues and Recommendations” the Report made further calls. It suggested a penalty to boost the compliance of bodies.

“For example, once a submission is more than two months late the accounting officer could be fined $1,000 for each month thereafter.” Calling for the appointment of a Procurement Regulator under ongoing procurement legislation, the PAC hit, “The breach of regulations in the procurement of goods and services was identified as a pervasive issue in the Ministries and 58 Statutory Bodies under the purview of the AGD”.

Better training of staff in procurement was also urged. The report lamented that the AGD is hampered by a limited access to information, and urged an amendment to secrecy provisions in the Income Tax Act section 4. “The issue of citizen privacy versus public interest needs to be carefully balanced here.” The PAC called for more staff to enable the AGD to execute special audits entailing more scrutiny of spending in areas unexamined in a general audit. Recommending 20 staff members for the AGD’s Special Audit Unit, the PAC vowed to write to the PSC to reinforce its call. The report said frequent changes in Accounting Officers caused hindrance which should be remedied by a handover period to train successors in the post, with help from the PSC and Chief Personnel Officer. Better pay should attract more skilled auditors, the report said.

The report said the general public must be helped to expose public corruption. “The Attorney General should ensure that the Whistleblower Protection Bill 2015 becomes law by year end,” said the report. “Secondly, the AGD should advertise opportunities for the public to submit issues to the AGD which in turn will help them (AGD) identify problems that may need further investigation.” Such persons must be assured of their privacy.

Regarding storage of documents in the Public Service, the PAC said the regulations are crafted on a paper-based system which has now become a challenge given physical constraints.

“The Auditor General should liaise with the Minister of Finance on the matter of amendment of clauses 135 to 137 of the Financial Regulations Act to include the ability to store data electronically.”