H.E. Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Auditor General of the National Audit Office (NAO), presented today Sunday, H.E. Mr. Ahmed bin Salman Al Musalam, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and H.E. Mr. Ali bin Saleh Al-Saleh, Speaker of the Shura Council, with the 19th NAO Annual Report 2021/2022 during their respective sessions.
H.E. Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa said that the support given to the NAO by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and the full independence granted to the NAO by law, enabled it to perform its duties efficiently. He also praised the support by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and his directives to the entities covered by the NAO’s audit mandate to follow up on the implementation of the recommendations and observations contained in the NAO’s reports.
The entities subject to the NAO’s audit include ministries, directorates, governorates, municipalities, public organizations which constitute the administrative set-up of the State and entities attached thereto, the Shura Council, the House of Representatives, municipal councils, and companies in which the State holds more than 50% of their capital or guarantees them minimum profit or provides them with financial assistance and any other entity which His Majesty the King authorizes the NAO to monitor, in accordance with Article (4) of the NAO Law.
During the respective meetings, H.E. Sheikh Ahmed discussed with the Speakers of the House of Representatives and the Shura Council, strengthening cooperation and coordination in auditing and consolidating the principles of integrity, honesty and professionalism to contribute to achieving the goals of the comprehensive development process led by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
H.E. the Auditor General expressed his appreciation to the speakers and members of the House of Representatives and the Shura Council for their attention to the reports, their follow-up regarding the observations and recommendations issued by the NAO and their important role in representing the national interest and promoting the principle of transparency.
He stressed that the NAO’s audit work included various economic, social, service, health, environmental and other sectors, and adopted a comprehensive audit approach through the implementation of horizontal audit tasks.
He pointed out that during the past professional year 96 audit missions were completed, 140 reports were issued in addition to 98 follow-up reports to ensure that the audited entities implement the recommendations from previous years, and about 776 recommendations were issued.
He explained that during the professional year 2021/2022 the NAO followed up on the implementation of its recommendations in its previous audit reports, which showed that the entities subject to its audit implemented or started to implement 79% of its recommendations. He continued that the NAO’s second follow-up work completed during this year showed that the entities covered by its audit implemented or started to implement 92% of the total recommendations.
H.E. Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed emphasized that the NAO would continue to perform its duties in accordance with the law and adopt a positive approach and constructive partnership with the entities subject to its audit, while continuing to implement development plans and programs, focus on investing in human capital, strengthen training programs, and expand audit services, especially more recent ones such as forensic auditing, digital transformation and effective use of technology among others.
He pointed out that the NAO paid great attention to providing on-going training and professional qualification courses for its employees and keeping them informed about the latest relevant developments to enhance their technical and professional skills. He added that during 2022, the NAO had held and had participated in about 63 internal and external training courses, seminars and workshops in cooperation and coordination with local, regional and international organizations, institutions and specialized agencies benefiting more than 851 participants. In addition, the NAO had trained many employees working in the entities covered by its audit.
He further explained that the NAO ran a professional development program via a scholarship system for its staff to obtain one of the internationally accredited professional qualifications in auditing and accounting such as ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants), CPA (Certified Public Accountant), CIA, (Certified Internal Auditor), CISA (Certified Information Systems Auditor), and CMA (Certified Management Accountant) and so far 44% of NAO’s technical staff had benefited from that program.
Concerning forensic auditing, H.E. Sheikh Ahmed stressed that the NAO would continue to implement and expand that audit type and strengthen the capabilities of its employees in that field by periodically reviewing policies and manuals governing forensic auditing and updating and developing technical tools for its staff to be able to complete forensic audit task at a high professional level.
From 2020 to September 2022, the NAO conducted 14 forensic audit tasks which included many of the entities covered by its audit mandate and is currently carrying out 5 new forensic audit tasks. These tasks are carried out and related reports are prepared in parallel with the NAO’s regular tasks and reports.
The two meetings were attended by His Excellency Sheikh Abdulla bin Khalid Al Khalifa, Deputy Auditor General Administrative Audit, His Excellency Mr. Majeed Makki, Assistant Auditor General Regularity Audit, His Excellency Dr. Isa Alnoaimi, Assistant Auditor General Administrative Audit, and His Excellency Mr. Qasim Almadhoob, Assistant Auditor General Performance Audit.
