In his report to the multiparty Parliamentary Oversight Authority, the Auditor- General noted that there had been “a vast improvement” in this year’s report, compared to previous years.
This is the seventh consecutive unqualified audit report Parliament has received. Although Mr Nombembe raised a matter of emphasis, this did not constitute a finding, nor was it, according to the Auditor-General, a major issue.
On the matter of payment of suppliers, an issue which came up in last year’s audit report, the instances of money paid after the 30 day deadline had significantly decreased as had the amount. In terms of the Financial Management of Parliament Act, Parliament is required to pay money it owes within 30 days of receiving invoices.
Regarding the recurring, if lesser, non-compliance with the 30-day payment to suppliers, the Auditor-General recommended that Parliament’s management consider including this compliance objective as a performance criterion for relevant officials. This was accepted and will be implemented with immediate effect.
Another matter to which the Auditor-general drew attention was the achievement of planned targets. Of the total 39 targets planned for the year under review, 17 (44%) were not achieved. This has been primarily due to how the targets have been framed. Parliament will now review and refine the definition of its targets and the indicators for their achievement. The audit opinion is contained in Parliament’s 2012/13 annual report, tabled last week.
Parliament, Wednesday 11 September 2013 the Office of the Auditor-general, Mr Terence Nombembe, has once again given Parliament an unqualified audit opinion on its financial statements as at 31 March 2013.
