Sulliman reveals major challenges

By HARLYNE JOKU
AUDITOR-General George Sulliman said yesterday that accounting practices among government departments and agencies are so poor that it is impossible for him to submit a report to Parliament every six months.
He said many were behind in their financial statements and some did not even produce them.
“Full and proper accountability is not possible without that,” he told the National Development Forum organised by the Consultative and Implementation Monitoring Committee (CIMC) at Parliament House.
Mr Sulliman said he would require proper accountability at all levels of execution and implementation of the budget.
He added that good governance was not easy to attain without realistic budgets, transparent implementation of the budgets and proper and timely accountability.
“We all know that accountability of the use of public property and application of public funds is a requirement under the Public Finance Management Act,” he said.
Government organisations through their chief executive officers and heads of various State institutions were therefore required to produce performance management reports and audited financial statements, he said.
However, he said, this was not practical due to the following:
l National departments at present do not produce financial statements;
l Accounts books and records lack information; and
l Poor quality of financial statements.
Mr Sulliman attributed these problems to a lack of qualified, skilled and experienced staff in the organisations, resulting in a lack of understanding, direction and bad work ethics.
He said that for example, for the 744 entities to be reported, there were only 55 auditors to do the job.
Mr Sulliman said that his office also needed financial and human resources to improve and increase the value and impact of their contributions.
He added that they were looking forward to working closely with the audit committees and the internal auditors to find ways to help tackle the problems.