|
||||||||||||
(Date of assent: 31st December, 1973)
(Date of Commencement: See Sec. I)
To provide for the office of Auditor-General, the powers and duties of the Auditor-General and for matters incidental thereto or connected therewith.
Enacted by the Assembly
1. This Act may be cited as the Audit Act, 1973 and shall come into operation on a date to be fixed by the Minister by notice in the Gazette.
2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires-
"Accounting officer" includes every public officer or agent of Lesotho who is charged with the duty of collecting, receiving or accounting for, or who is fact collects, receives, or accounts for any public moneys or who in charged with the duty of disbursing, or who does in fact disburse any public moneys, and every public officer who is charged with the receipt, custody or disposal of, or the accounting for, public stores or who in fact receives, holds or disposes of public stores;
"Consolidated Fund" means the Consolidated Fund of Lesotho;
"Minister" means the Minister for the time being charged "public moneys" include-
(a) the public revenues of Lesotho;
(b) any moneys held in his official capacity, whether temporarily or otherwise, and whether subject to any trust or specific allocation or not, by an officer in the public service of Lesotho or by any agent of the Government either alone or jointly with any other person;
"Public officer" means a person holding or acting in any public office;
"Public stores" means property of any description including stamps and securities other than money, belonging to or in the possession or under-the control of the Government.
3. (1) There shall be an Auditor-General whose office shall be an office in the public service.
(2) The power to appoint or remove the holder of the office of Auditor-General shall be in accordance with the provisions of the Public Service Order, 1970 (No. 21 of 1970)
4. The salary of the Auditor-General shall be as provided for in the Statutory Salaries Order, 1972 (No. 8 of 1972) and shall be a charge on the Consolidated Fund.
(1) examine, in such manner as he may deem necessary, the accounts, relating to the Consolidated Fund, other public funds and public stores, and shall ascertain whether, in his opinion-
(a) the accounts have been properly kept;
(b) all public moneys have been fully accounted for and the rules and procedures applied are sufficient to secure an effective check on the assessment, collection and proper allocation of the revenue;
(c) money has been expended for the purpose for which it was appropriated by the Assembly or by law or regulation relating to other public funds; and
(d) essential records are maintained and the rules and procedures applied are sufficient to safeguard and control public property-
(2) at least ones in every year audit and report on the public accounts of Lesotho and the accounts of all accounting officers.
6. (1) Within ninety days of the receipt, in accordance with section 27 of the Finance Act, 1973, of the public accounts from the Accountant-General, the Auditor- General shall send to the Minister a certified copy of the accounts, together with the report upon his examination and audit of the public accounts required by section 5 of this Act.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of sub-section (1) the Prime Minister may, on good cause shown by the Auditor-General, extend the period within which such report shall be submitted.
(3) On receipt of the report of the Auditor-General on the public accounts the Minister shall, at the first available opportunity, lay it before the Assembly without alteration thereto together with the public accounts. Thereafter the Minister shall cause the report and the accounts to be published.
7. The Auditor-General may at any time, if it appears to him to be desirable, send a special report on any matter incidental to his powers and his duties under the provisions of this Act to the Minister for presentation to the Assembly.
8. The Auditor-General shall exercise such other functions in relation to the public accounts or the accounts of other authorities or bodies established by law for public purposes as may be prescribed by or under any law.
9. In the exercise of his functions under sections 5, 6,7 and 8 Auditor-General shall not be subject to the direction or control of any person or authority.
10. The Auditor-General shall not be required to undertake any examination of accounts partaking of the nature of preaudit which involves acceptance by him of responsibility which would preclude him from full criticism of any accounting transactions after such transactions have been duly recorded nor shall be he required to undertake any duties outside those operating to his post, if he considers that such duties are in compatible with the responsibilities of his office.
11. Anything, other than the reporting on public accounts to the Assembly, which under the authority of this Act or any other law may be done by the Auditor-General or person appointed to act as Auditor-General or person appointed to act as Auditor-General may be done by any suitable public officer or any person publicly carrying on the profession of accountant, authorised by him.
12. In the exercise of his duties under this Act the Auditor-General and every person authorised by him shall have the following powers-
1. At all reasonable times, to have access to and require the production of any books, records, returns, reports, vouchers and to other documents under the control of any person that in his opinion relate to or in any way concern the public accounts and to keep such books, records, returns, reports, vouchers and other documents for such time as he may require them;
2. At all reasonable times, to have access to cash, stamps, securities, stores and other property of whatever kind that he considers it necessary to inspect in connection with any of the public accounts and that is in the possession of or under the control of any government officer or authority of Lesotho;
3. To call upon any public or accounting officer for any explanation and information he may require in order to enable him to discharge his duties and such explanation and information shall be promptly supplied;
4. With the concurrence of the service head of such officer’s Department to authorise a public officer to conduct on his behalf any enquiry, examination or audit and to require such office to report thereon to him;
5. Without payment of any fees to cause search to be made in an extracts to be taken from any book, document or record of any public office;
6. To lay before the Attorney-General a case in writing on any question regarding the interpretation of any law or regulation concerning the powers of the Auditor-General or the discharge of his duties;
7. To report on any matter directly to the Prime Minister where he considers this to be necessary.
13. Where a voucher has been lost or destroyed or where an existing voucher defective in any respect the Auditor-General, if satisfied with the explanation given by the officer responsible and with any other evidence of the transaction, may dispense with the production of a voucher or, in the case of a defective voucher, accept such voucher.
14. If at any time it appears to the Auditor-General that any fraud or serious loss or irregularity has occurred in the receipt, custody or expenditure of public moneys or in the receipt, custody, issue, sale, transfer or delivery of public stores of any kind what so ever, or in the accounting therefor he shall, unless the fraud, loss or irregularity has already been so reported, immediately bring the matter to the notice of the Minister.
15. (1) Where, by or under any law, the Auditor-General is required to exercise of other functions in relation to the accounts of other authorities or bodies established by law of for public purposes he-
(a) shall have, in relation to any such authorities or bodies and their members, officers, employees and property, in addition to the powers conferred upon him by any other law, the same duties and powers as are imposed and conferred upon him by this Act in relation to public moneys and public stores;
(b) may authorise any person publicly carrying on the profession of accountant or (with the consent of the service head of a public officer's department) any suitable officer, to examine or audit the books and accounts of any authority or body which he may be so required to examine and audit, and such person or officer shall report thereon to the Auditor-General in such a manner as the Auditor-General may direct.
(2) The Auditor-General shall report on his examination and audit of the accounts referred to in this section and shall send such report to the appropriate Minister who shall present the report to the Assembly as if such report were in all respects one which the Minister is required to present in accordance with section 6(3):
Provided that the appropriate Minister shall obtain the observations of the authority or body concerned on any matter to which attention has been caned by the Auditor-General in his report, and such observations shall be presented by him to the Assembly with the said report.
(3) An authority or body whose accounts have been audited under the provisions of this section shall, in respect of such audit, pay such fees as may be determined by the Auditor-General with the concurrence of the Minister, and such fees shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund.
16. Notwithstanding any other law, the Minister shall have the power to request the Auditor-General to carry out an audit on the accounts of other authorities or bodies established by law for public purposes and to report on his audit in such manner as may be prescribed by the Minister. For such an audit, no fee, as otherwise required by section 15(3), shall be levied.
