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Auditor-general Mr Terence Nombembe has once again given Parliament an unqualified audit opinion on its financial statements.

The audit opinion is contained in Parliament’s 2011/2012 annual report, tabled today.

This is the sixth year in which the national legislature has obtained an unqualified audit opinion of its financial management.

Mr Nombembe, however, drew attention to non-compliance with specific matters contained in the Financial Management of Parliament Act of 2009 (FMPA). These matters were:
· Money owing by Parliament was not always paid within 30 days of receiving an invoice, as required by section 33(2)(e) of FMPA.
· Interest was not charged on overdue debt as required by section 32(3) of the FMPA.
· The financial statements submitted for auditing were not prepared in all material respects in accordance with the requirements of section 56(1) of FMPA. However, material misstatements indentified were subsequently corrected, resulting in the financial statements receiving an unqualified audit opinion.
· Parliament developed a plan to address internal and external audit findings but adherence to the plan was not monitored on a timely basis by the appropriate level of management. This resulted in the re-ocurrence of findings from the previous year which related to interest which is not charged on overdue accounts in accordance with section 32(3) of FMPA.
· Management did not adequately exercise their responsibility throughout the financial year to ensure accurate and complete financial statements. This was evident by the extent of misstatements included in the financial statements as well as non-compliance with the FMPA.

Parliament has initiated a project to remedy the above matters, particularly the non- compliance with paying invoices within 30 days of receiving them.

The institution strives to obtain a clean audit result, and not merely an unqualified audit opinion. A clean audit result is one which has three criteria – an unqualified audit opinion on the financial statements, no findings relating to predetermined objectives and no non-compliance with legislation.

While the Presiding Officers welcome the unqualified audit opinion, a clean audit result, in the current financial year, will be the yardstick with which the institution’s performance will be measured. This, we are confident, is an attainable objective.