Integrity Commission defends its financial affairs, hits back at Warmington

The Integrity Commission has hit back at Government Member of Parliament Everald Warmington who yesterday raised questions about the financial affairs of the anti-corruption body and called for an audit to be done before Parliament approves any further funding to the agency.

“We [must] get an audit report from that department before the next financial year. There is no way that we are going to approve another $2 billion for a department that has not been audited for years. Okay. So, I expect that the audit be laid here before March next year,” said Warmington during a sitting of the Standing Finance Committee  of Parliament.

The Integrity Commission, in a media release, today described the remarks as alarming.

The commission said it remains concerned that there are parliamentarians who continue to exhibit a clear lack of knowledge, or understanding, of the very laws that they are elected to write.

The anti-corruption agency noted that the accounting and financial affairs of the commission have been audited every year in its six years of existence.

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The audits, in each case, have been conducted by an independent external auditor whose appointment has been approved, in writing, by the Minister of Finance himself, it added.

The commission noted that this information is contained in its annual reports, all of which have been formally submitted to and tabled in parliament.

An action, it noted, which is required by the law.

“It is also obvious that some parliamentarians do not read the reports of the Integrity Commission that are routinely tabled in the House of Representatives,” said the commission, noting that Warmington is a member of the oversight committee and would have access to its annual reports.

The commission said claims therefore that the financial and accounting affairs of the entity have not been audited for years and that no audit report had been submitted by the commission to Parliament are false.