Kuwait’s State Audit Bureau celebrates 54th anniversary
Entity in charge of monitoring public wealth
KUWAIT CITY, July 7, (KUNA): The State Audit Bureau of Kuwait marks Saturday its 54th anniversary of establishment as an entity in charge of monitoring public wealth.
The SAB was founded on July 7, 1964 to be the chief audit authority to provide and propose solutions to dilemmas of financial nature for state and government bodies. According to the SAB, Kuwait has established a number of institutions for the purpose of implementing a clearcut methodology towards targeted development, operating within the domain of the State’s economic and social policies. The former ruler of Kuwait, the late Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah had commanded the formation of the Supreme Executive Committee as a higher institution overseeing public departments.
The committee later issued a decree for the establishment of an audit bureau that monitors and manages public accounts.
The decree was issued in the committee’s fourth meeting which was held in July 22, 1954, and in its seventh meeting the committee issued another decree (7/15) delegating Ali Tawfiq Hajjaj, a technical expert in Accounting and Monetary Affairs, to utilize his expertise for the formation of the audit bureau and the regulation of the State’s accounts.
At the dawn of Independence, the Amiri decree no. 12 was issued on Aug 26, 1961 calling for the election of the Constitutional Council.
Thereby, the first public elections took place in Dec 30, 1961 to form the council whose objectives were to establish the permanent constitution of the modern State of Kuwait, in addition to issuing laws and legislation and overseeing the performance of ministries.
In Jan 10, 1962, the Constitutional Council commenced its activity, where writing a permanent constitution along with an explanatory memorandum was on the top of its priorities. The constitution was later ratified on Nov11, 1962.
There is no doubt that the constitution of Kuwait was a crucial turning point in the establishment of the political and social existence of the State of Kuwait.
Progressive
It represents a big progressive leap in the history of Kuwait as its articles emphasize fundamental principles and trajectories towards national development, which have become the basis for the formation of policies in all public domains whether economic, social, political, or civil.
These assets have consequently factored in steering the efforts towards the establishment of Kuwait as a State of laws and institutions.
One of the most momentous articles of the constitution is Article No. 151, which states that a financial control bureau is to be established by a decree. The article also specifies that the bureau’s independence must be legally warranted, and it should be appended to The National Assembly. As for its purpose, the article mentions that the bureau is to assist the government and the National Assembly in monitoring the collection of the State’s revenues and the settlement of its expenses within the specified budget.
Also, the bureau is obligated to submit to both the government and the National Assembly an annual report enclosing its tasks and observations. Subsequently, Law No. 30 for the year 1964 was accordingly issued declaring the establishment of The State Audit Bureau (SAB).
Al-Mawashi Company increased the price of live sheep by KD 6 (10 percent) so the current price of each sheep is KD 55, reports Al-Rai daily quoting sources.
Sources explained this is aimed at minimizing the cost that the company bears due to the decision of Australia to reduce the number of sheep exported Gulf countries.
Sources said the Ministry of Commerce and Industry approved the price increase as the company gave valid reasons for doing so. They pointed out that the approval of the ministry is valid only until Oct 31, 2018; hence, the company will sell sheep at the previous price after this date.
Sources added the local market consumes 800,000 Australian sheep per year and about 350,000 of which are consumed during summer. They revealed the company intends to export sheep from other countries such as South Africa, Latin America and Sudan.