Junior Minister at the Office of the President, Phillip Makgalemele has requested a total P53, 773,370 for the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) under the recurrent budget for the financial year 2016/17.
When presenting the budget on Monday, Makgalemele said the OAG continues to execute its mandate of ensuring that public resources are used for their intended purposes in the most efficient, effective and economical manner. In the past year, the Auditor General has audited the accounts of central government departments, culminating with the issuance of the audit certificate and Auditor General’s Annual Report on the Accounts of Botswana Government for the year 2014/2015, which was tabled in parliament in August. Makgalemele says a total of 20 financial audit reports for the financial year 2010/2011 and eleven 11 for 2011/2012 were issued for the various Councils and Land boards.
“These audits enhance audit visibility and act as a deterrent to corruption and fraud.”
The Auditor General also supported the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Local Authorities Public Accounts Committee (LAPAC) and the Committee on Statutory Bodies and State Owned Enterprises (COSBSOE) in the examination of accounting officers on the use of public resources entrusted to them.
In the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, the Auditor General has continued with the audit of the Regional Tourism Organisation of Southern Africa. Furthermore, in the global public audit space, the Auditor General has continued to fulfil her obligations as a member of the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) Working Group on Environmental Audit (WGEA). The Auditor General is also a member of the African Organisation for English Speaking Supreme Audit Institution’s (AFROSAI-E) interim committee on the Professionalization of Public Sector Accountants and Auditors. The engagements are a vote of confidence on the quality of the audit service provided by the Auditor General in the international auditing arena. The OAG has since relocated to a new building in the Central Business District in Gaborone.
