KOTA KINABALU: Thirteen out of the 29 ministries, departments and agencies under the Sabah state government audited in 2018 have achieved the level of excellence in their financial management.
According to the 2018 Auditor-General’s Report Series 1 issued yesterday, three other ministries, departments, agencies in the state which were audited were at the level of Good, 10 at Satisfactory, two at Fairly Satisfactory and one Unsatisfactory.
“The Risk-Based Financial Management (Accountability Index) auditing involved three Sabah state ministries and 16 departments being audited each year. Six state statutory bodies and four local authorities were audited in rotation,” the report said.
However, according to the report, there were still room for improvement for a number of ministries, departments and agencies to strengthen the internal control of their financial management so that issues raised do not recur so as to reduce the risk of more serious non-compliance.
As such the Auditor- General recommended the departments and agencies to take appropriate action as follows:
Ensure that the knowledge and skills of officers involved in financial management are enhanced by providing appropriate training on an ongoing basis, as well as the officers’ skills and capabilities are assessed from time to time.
Ensure that issues raised by the National Audit Department and Internal Audit Unit are acted upon and preventive measures are taken.
The department head to take appropriate action against the officer who has been determined to commit a serious non-compliance which has resulted in losses and had affected the Government’s image.
Striving to create a work culture based on best practice to maintain excellent performance level in financial management and using the 2nd edition of the Book of Financial Management Excellence from the Perspective of the National Audit Department as reference.
Conducting more thorough supervision on work undertaken by subordinates involved in financial management to ensure that rules set by the Government are always complied, as well as to have a hands-on approach on the job.
Implementing job rotation every five years for officers who have been given financial responsibility, especially those involved in management of receipts, revenue and expenses to ensure there is no room and opportunity for them to commit serious non-compliance. – Bernama