Discussion ongoing between MoF, MoD about official missions budget

PAHW employee reports against minister, two top officials

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 16: An open discussion is ongoing between Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Defense concerning the item of official overseas missions, reports Al-Rai daily quoting informed sources.

They explained that Ministry of Defense had asked for additional amount of about KD 1 million in the 2019/2020 fiscal year for this purpose, which would total the value of the allocated amount for official overseas missions to about KD 4.5 million.

When Ministry of Finance asked Ministry of Defense for details about official missions such as the time periods, the destination countries and the costs, the defense ministry said, “The missions are of secret military characteristic”, affirming that they are issued by ministerial decisions and subject to supervision of the Bureau of Financial Controllers.

Indicates

This indicates that specialists in Ministry of Interior can see the required details by visiting the Operations and Planning Authority due to the confidentiality and nature of the missions.

Ministry of Defense indicated that KD 4.58 million was specified in the draft budget of the military authority for the 2019/2020 fiscal year by the Operations and Planning Authority, but only KD 3.5 million was approved by Ministry of Finance.

Ministry of Defense requested approval for transfer of KD 1 million instead of KD 500,000 for the item of official overseas missions from the amount allocated for scholarships for employees as deduction from the military commission’s budget for the current fiscal year.

An employee of Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) has submitted a report to Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority (NAZAHA) against the Minister of State for Housing Affairs and two senior officials of PAHW, accusing them of misusing their authority, and highlighting the lack of justice in appointment of candidates for supervisory and leading positions, reports Al-Qabas daily quoting reliable sources.

They said the minister recently nominated an employee to a leading position in PAHW without conducting tests intended for such positions, adding that the employee who was nominated to the leading position was not entitled to taking up the position of head of a department.