ABOUT THE AG’S OFFICE

The Office of the Auditor General, which is the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) of Eswatini is mandated by Section 207 of the Constitution of the country to carry out all audits, where public funds have been collected and or used. The Audit Act of 2005 operationalises the mandate of the Office of the Auditor General, and that is to audit all Public Entities so as to ensure accountability and transparency in the use of public funds.

The work of the Office of the Auditor General started long time ago, during the colonial era. However, little is known about its work, value and benefits to the lives of the citizens of the Kingdom of Eswatini and means of changing that are being made.

In the 1960s, the headquarters of the audit office known as the High Commission Territories comprising of Bechuanaland, Basutoland and Swaziland (Eswatini), was based in Pretoria South Africa. Over the years there has been a significant change in functions and duties, which were enshrined in the Finance Management and Audit Act No 18 of 1967. Both the Constitution of 1963 and the Finance Management and Audit Act of 1967 gave a degree of independence to the audit office. However, there was lack of stakeholder engagement and communication on the meaning and significance of keeping the office independent of its audit clients. The explanation and engagement on the independence of the Office of the Auditor General was not there, hence operations continued to be restrained by, a meagre budget allocation which went through the Government Budget Committee in the Ministry of Finance; the recruitment and promotion of unqualified human resources, inability to retain, compensate and dismiss staff as it rests with the Ministry of Public Service through Civil Service Commission; and limitations to IT tools by the Computer Services Department.

Prior to the current Constitution and Audit Act, 2005, the operations of the Office of the Auditor General were governed by the Finance Management and Audit Act, which placed it under the same umbrella with the Treasury. The Finance Management and Audit Act of 1967 gave a limited degree of independence to the audit office, as such its operations were governed by the Act, which placed it as a department of the Ministry of Finance; while the Ministry was its main audit client.

The enactment of the Constitution of Kingdom of Eswatini of 2005 (Section 207) re-established the Office of the Auditor General as a public office, separated the Office of the Auditor General from the Ministry of Finance and the name Audit Department was changed to Office of the Auditor General.