RAA asserts its independence
18 June 2009
The independence of constitutional bodies yet again became an issue when the Royal Audit Authority (RAA) yesterday questioned the implementation of the Audit Act in a meeting with the members of the National Assembly.
Presenting the achievements of the RAA since 1960 when it was established, the Auditor General, Ugen Chewang, said the biggest challenge facing the agency was was its independence.
According to the Auditor General, although article 25 of the constitution and chapter 2 section 4 of the Audit Act 2006 declares the independence of RAA, there is a lack of implementation.
Article 25.2 of the constitution states, “The Royal Audit Authority shall be an independent authority headed by the Auditor General who shall be appointed by the Druk Gyalpo….”
Article 25.7 of constitution which states that “The Royal Audit Authority shall function in accordance with the Audit helplessAct” qualifies the clause under chapter 2 section 4 of the Audit Act which states, “The Authority shall be an independent and non-partisan institution headed by the Auditor General.”
The Auditor General said that RAA should be given the authority to implement its service rule independently. “The credibility of RAA will depend on how much independent we are,” he said.
But the bigger problem with the RAA is losing its professional auditors. The RAA has lost a 12 employees in 2006, the highest recorded so far for the agency. In 2007, however, with strict measures, only six employees left the authority.
“We cannot afford to lose these professionals,” said the Auditor General.
As per the requirement of BCSR, the employees are open to compete for posts in other government or international agencies. “This has major implications on the human resource,” said the media spokesperson for the RAA, Tashi.
He added, “We will be following the civil service rules but implementing it independently in financial and human resource matters.”
However, the new Civil Service Bill completely overturns the RAA’s independence. Chapter 1 section 2 of the Civil Service Bill states, “All other laws, rules and regulations pertaining to civil servants, so far as they are inconsistent with the Act….”
Clauses in the Audit Act, which pertains to provisions on organisational structure and personnel requirement, are inconsistent with the Civil Service Bill 2009.
“In the coming session, the Civil Service Bill is likely to be taken up as an urgent bill. While deliberating on this bill, issues on independence of constitutional bodies like RCSC, RAA, ECB and ACC with regard to personal management will be discussed and passed in conformity with the provision of the constitution,” said the Speaker of the National Assembly, Jigme Tshultim.
By Kuenzang Choden
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Asserts independence? I thought it was independently functioning. Asserts more independence….for what purpose? If it is to deliver the duties without fear, I guess this is happening. If it is not happening despite the act in place then there is something wrong in the organization itself.
If institution of democracy is encouraging more organizations especially RCSC to assert its independence in the name of prevention of political influence. Then who is responsible to whom. It is nothing but the top layer of bureaucrats finding a cushion to absorb the pressure to perform what is expected to perform.
Fiercely independent RCSC will create chaos in the deliverance in services and governance. It is high time that the Civil servants be brought under the harness and made to serve the public as “civil servants” not “civil masters”.