Enact National Audit Bill: State auditors petition all MPs
Frustrated by the Government’s delay to introduce the National Audit Bill to Parliament, officials in the Auditor General's Department have written directly to all 225 lawmakers, urging them to ensure that legislation is taken up as a matter of priority.
Along with the Audit officials, the delay in introducing the National Audit Bill to Parliament has irked Opposition politicians who allege the Government is buying time to reduce the powers that are to be vested with the Auditor General (AG), included in a draft Bill prepared several months ago.
One of the most contentious sections in the draft Bill is the power to be vested with the AG "to impose a surcharge on the value of a deficiency or loss in transactions of an audited entity, where the AG has reasonable grounds to believe that such transaction has been made contrary to any written law and is due to fraud, negligence or cor- ruption of those involved in that transaction".
Opposition to vesting such powers in the AG's Dept has come from the senior ranks in the public service, particularly Ministry Secretaries who also function as Chief Accounting Officers (CAO), the Sunday Times learns. If the surcharge powers are vested with the AG, Secretaries will be among those held accountable for financial losses within institutions under them, along with heads of other government bodies.
The Combined Trade Union Alliance (CTUA) of the AG's Dept has been in the forefront of the agitation to have the National Audit Bill presented to Parliament as soon as possible. Its members staged a protest Thursday near the Parliament roundabout, to draw attention to the matter. Union members have also met with civil society organisations and trade unions in other sectors to urge them to pressurize the Government to enact the National Audit Bill.
CTUA Convener, A.H.M.L. Ambanwala said the delay in bringing the legislation was undermining the Government’s promise of good governance.
“The Bill was drafted several months ago and is now under discussion by a Cabinet subcommittee. It must be promptly presented to Cabinet and then to Parliament,” he said.
The subcommittee is headed by Minister of Special Projects, Dr Sarath Amunugama who has told the CTUA the Bill would be presented to Cabinet within the next two weeks.
Mr Ambanwala said any attempts to dilute the contents of the draft Bill will be detrimental to the interests of the public who stand to benefit from additional State revenue, once the AG s Dept is empowered to impose surcharges which would be channeled to the Treasury.
“If any amendments are to be done to the Bill, it should be first discussed by a Parliamentary committee, as well as civil society organisations and other relevant parties,” he said. In their letter to the MPs, the CTUA has urged them to put aside party politics and ensure the Bill is approved unanimously, so that the AG's Dept can function independently and freely, to ensure that every cent of public finance is accounted for and used for the benefit of the people of the country.
It was as far back as April 2015, when Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe presented the proposal to Cabinet, to enact a National Audit Bill that adheres to international standards of the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) but, since then, the matter has been in limbo with differing opinions on the context of the Bill. The introduction of the legislation was among the pledges of the 100-Day Programme of the Government of President Maithripala Sirisena, when it took power in January 2015.
President Sirisena who addressed the Anti-Corruption Summit in London in May this year, where the important role SAIs play in their fight against corruption was recognized, said a National Audit Act will be presented to Parliament shortly.
The Conference called on governments worldwide to strengthen the capacity of SAIs, so as to strengthen fiscal transparency.
Chairman- Sri Lanka Accountants’ Service Association, M.S. Nayana Kumara said Sri Lanka’s Audit Bill has been drafted in line with the principles of the Mexico Declaration of 2007, which states that SAIs be free from direction or interference by the Legislature or the Executive, in the audit of the use of public monies, resources or assets, and that, the application of sanctions be part of their mandate.
”If the AG's Dept has additional powers such as to impose a surcharge, it will act as a deterrent against misuse and neglect in the manner in which public finances are utilised,” he said. Mr Nayana Kumara added that, "State revenue could be increased when waste and loss of public finances are curtailed, and would go a long way to help the country’s economy as a whole."
He added that, the Bill provides for any person who is aggrieved by a decision made by the AG, pertaining to imposition of the surcharge, to appeal against such a decision, within one month of receiving such notice, to the Surcharge Appeal Committee which is to be appointed under the provisions of this Act.
At present, reports compiled by the AG's Dept are submitted to the two Parliamentary oversight committees, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE), which in turn scrutinises these reports but, follow-up action to penalise those responsible for causing the waste or loss of public monies, either due to corruption or negligence, remains minimal.
This week, COPE Chairman JVP MP Sunil Handunnetti was among those who publicly urged that the National Audit Bill be presented to Parliament quickly.
He said the Audit Service Commission set up under the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, remains inactive in the absence of necessary legislation to enable it to function.
“The National Audit Bill was drafted in consultation with audit professionals, and the Attorney General too gave his approval to it, hence the Government has no valid reason to delay introducing it to Parliament,’ he said.