AUDIT AND EXCHEQUER ACT

Acts 28/1967, 30/1968 (s. 38), 58/1969 (s. 11), 29/1970 (s. 10), 43/1970 (s. 11), 16/1973, 39/1973 (s. 29),

15/1974(s. 26), 16/1974, 24/1975 (s. 4), 42/1976 (s. 11), 42/1977 (s. 2), 41/1978 (s. 13), 17 1979 (s. 10),

45/1983, 2/1985, 8/1988, 32/1989, 5/1993, 9/1999 (s. 82), 14/1999 (s. 29) (s. ), 22/2001 (s. 4); R.G.N. 217/1970, 1135/1975.

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

PART I

PRELIMINARY Section

1. Short title.

PART II

SALARY, POWERS AND DUTIESOF COMPTROLLER AND AUDITOR-GENERAL AND STAFF

3. Salary of Comptroller and Auditor-General.
4. Tenure of office of Comptroller and Auditor-General.
5. Staff of Comptroller and Auditor-General.
6. Duties of Comptroller and Auditor-General.
7. Examination and audit of accounts.
8. Comptroller and Auditor-General to satisfy himself that public moneys and State property are safeguarded.
9. Powers of Comptroller and Auditor-General.

PART III

SURCHARGES

10. Application of Part III.
11. Power of surcharge.
12. Appeals against surcharge.
13. Recovery of surcharge.

PART IV

REPORTS BY COMPTROLLER AND AUDITOR-GENERAL

14. Annual report of Comptroller and Auditor-General.
15. Special reports.
16. Reports on accounts of statutory bodies.
17. Reports to be laid before Parliament.

PART V

MANAGEMENTAND CONTROL OFPUBLIC MONEYS AND STATEPROPERTY

18. Treasury to manage and control public moneys and State property.
19. Appointment and functions of internal auditors.
20. Powers of Treasury in relation to public moneys and State property.
21. Loss or destruction of, or damage to, State property.
22. Establishment of banking accounts.
23. Moneys to be paid to Exchequer Account.
24. Control of expenditures and issues from Exchequer Account.
25. Issue of moneys to carry on government at the beginning of each financial year.
26. Special warrants for issues to meet unforeseen expenditure.
27. Issue of moneys to carry on government after dissolution of Parliament.
28. Grants of credit.
29. Advances by Treasury.
30. Establishment of funds.
31. Appropriation and year-end accounts.

PART VI

CORPORATEBODIES

32. Interpretation in Part VI.
33. No payment or expenditure to be incurred without approval.
34. Submission of budgets for approval.
35. Supplementary capital budgets.
36. Designated corporate body may vary approved budgets.
37. Appropriate Minister may vary or modify approval of budgets.
38. Approved capital budgets to be laid before Parliament.
39. Corporations not to fix or alter salaries, etc., of designated employees without consent of responsible Minister.
40. Restrictions on borrowings or investments by designated corporate body.
41. Loans to designated corporate bodies.
42. Audit of accounts of designated corporate bodies.
43. Duties of auditors.
44. Annual reports of designated corporate bodies.
45. Exemptions from provisions of Part VI.

PART VII

GENERAL

46. Accounting officer or receiver of revenue may require written instructions.
47. Retention moneys.
48. Recovery of debts due to State.
50. Officers and other persons to obey instructions or directions.
51. Inspection of offices.
52. Offences and penalties.

AN ACT to provide for the appointment, powers and duties of the Comptroller and AuditorGeneral and of his staff; to provide for the examination and audit of public accounts and the raising of surcharges; to make provision for the management and control of public moneys and State property and the protection and recovery thereof; to regulate and control the expenditures of certain statutory bodies and statutory funds and to permit the making of loans thereto; and for matters incidental to the foregoing.

[Date of commencement: 1st July, 1967.]

PART I

PRELIMINARY

1    Short title

This Act may be cited as the Audit and Exchequer Act [Chapter 22:03].

                       2    Interpretation

In this Act—

“accounting officer” means a person who is prescribed to be an accounting officer;

“appropriate Minister”, in relation to—

• a statutory body, means the Vice-President or Minister, as the case may be, responsible for administering the Act by or in terms of which the statutory body was established;
• a company or organization other than a statutory body, means the Vice-President or Minister, as the case may be, responsible for the sector of the economy in which the company or organization carries on its main activities;

“capital budget”, in relation to a statutory body, means a programme of capital expenditure which that statutory body proposes to incur or to which it proposes to commit itself during its financial year, whether or not such capital expenditure is in respect of projects which will be completed during that financial year, together with proposals for the financing thereof;