NAO decries poor funding
The National Audit Office (NAO) says the reduced budgetary allocation to the office, from K1.6 billion last financial year to K1.3 billion in the 2020/21 National Budget, will affect investigations and audits the body planned to conduct.
Acting Auditor General Thomas Makiwa said this yesterday when his office presented its estimates for the 2020/21 fiscal year to the Budget, Finance and Public Accounts Cluster Committee for analysis.
He said:“ The coverage, depth and complexity of our audits will be affected.”
In the 2020/21 financial year, NAO has been allocated a budget ceiling of K1.3 billion on other recurrent transaction which is K280 333 398 less than the previous allocation.
However, in the 2019/20 financial year, NAO recorded a number of achievements, including auditing 35 local councils, 43 votes out of a target of 50 in the 2018/19 Budget and 17 treasury funds institutions.
NAO also timely produced the 2018/19 Auditor’s General report for ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) and was also recognised as the best performer in the public service.
However, the office only audited four out of 19 embassies.
On his part, Budget, Finance and Public Accounts Cluster Committee co-chairperson Sosten Gwengwe described the situation as sad.
He said: “They wanted K600 million more to carry out their job well. Oversight institutions should be properly funded as they bring in checks and balances.”
The recent Auditor General’s Report for the year ended June 30 2019 submitted to the Office of the Speaker shows that K35 billion has not been accounted for in the 2018/19 fiscal year alone.
