SAB’s prior censorship, statement of financial irregularities discussed
‘Referred for disciplinary trials’
KUWAIT CITY, Nov 22: The Budgets and Final Accounts Committee in the Parliament discussed Wednesday the State Audit Bureau’s prior censorship and statement of financial irregularities referred for disciplinary trials in all agencies for fiscal 2016/2017.
During the meeting, the committee discovered the following:
1. Results of prior supervision on government agencies in the report of the bureau
The bureau looked into 2,406 items concerning all government entities covered by its censorship. The total value of these items reached KD 8 billion and 81 percent of which were found in ministries and other government departments. As a result of this censorship, savings of KD 21.8 mil- lion were achieved and some were due to mathematical errors.
The bureau responded to papers on 935 topics and 38 percent of the total number of items it received. It disagreed on 64 items, saying the government agencies violated Articles 13 and 14 of the State Audit Bureau Law as they did not submit 81 topics to the bureau.
The committee discussed with experts in the bureau the obstacles it is facing in dealing with some government agencies. The bureau’s representatives pointed out the new Tenders Law did not address certain loopholes which may lead to continuation of some irregularities, especially regarding the 30-day period for studying projects. The bureau sees a difficulty in completing such studies in government agencies within this period.
The bureau also pointed out the lack of commitment on the part of the Central Tenders Committee (CTC) in verifying availability of funds in government agencies before awarding contracts and failure to verify amounts transferred to them.
The committee focused on the Ministry of Health as it submitted the highest number of items for the bureau’s prior censorship, specifically those related to tenders on medicines and exaggerated expenses in recent years. It was found that the ministry contracted directly with pharmaceutical factories in the past, but the CTC recommended that it should contract with agents to guarantee its rights if a lawsuit is filed and this led to a remarkable increase in the prices of medicines. The committee requested for contracting directly with factories due to its positive impact on the budget
2. Financial irregularities and disciplinary trials
The number of financial irregularities increased by 54 percent – from 187 in the previous year to 289 in fiscal 2016/2017 – amounting to KD 14.7 million and 99 percent of which are in ministries and government departments.
The committee discussed with experts from the bureau the evaluation of disciplinary trials and their impact on reducing the number of irregularities in government bodies, especially since it has been discovered that the penalties stipulated by the law are not enough to deter those committing violations. This necessitates amendment of Chapter Four of the State Audit Bureau Law.
The committee told representatives of the bureau that some government agencies are seeking to impose sanctions on the actual perpetrators, because some pensioners in an undisclosed ministry were found to be behind certain irregularities which cannot be referred for disciplinary trials.
Furthermore, MP Riyadh Al-Adsani said HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber AlMubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah is supposed to lay down the economic plans of the country, not the Amiri Diwan.