Council of Ministers lacks adequate control over spending 90,000 KM on representation

The extravagance of Bosnian politicians is no secret; despite years of warnings from auditors, it continues, and few recommendations are followed, Patria writes.

The Rulebook on the use of representation funds of the Council of Ministers sets the maximum annual amount for representation at 90,000 KM for the General Secretariat.

In accordance with the said Rulebook, the General Secretariat adopted an internal decision on the use of representation funds in the Cabinet of the Chairperson and the General Secretariat. It is defined that the monthly right to use representation funds is held by the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers (6,000 KM), the Head of the Cabinet of the Chairperson (500 KM), the Secretary General (600 KM), and the Assistant Secretaries General (100 KM each).

It also defines the method of justifying the expenditure of representation funds, the procedure in case of overspending, and the obligation to prepare semi-annual and annual reports on the use of funds.

However, the General Secretariat did not prepare reports, even though this is prescribed by internal acts.

- The internal control system for representation costs is not fully efficient. Thus, for the General Secretariat, monthly costs were monitored and reconciled only for internal representation, while the expenditure on external representation was not recorded, nor did it enter the calculation when monitoring defined limits.

We recommend that the General Secretariat upgrade the internal control system over the expenditure of representation funds, all with the aim of transparency and ensuring evidence of the intended use of funds – determined the auditors of the Office for Audit of Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Thus, the auditors recommended that the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers upgrade the internal control system over the expenditure of representation funds, all with the aim of transparency and ensuring evidence of the intended use of funds. In addition to this, the auditors again recommended that the General Secretariat reconsider the engagement of persons through service contracts for systematized positions, and any potential needs for such engagement should be resolved within the framework of existing regulations.

- Analyzing the engagement of external associates, it can be concluded that in 2015, 13 persons were engaged. Five persons were engaged for work in the Cabinet of the Chairperson, while eight persons performed tasks for the needs of the General Secretariat – states the Report.

Expenditures arising from engagements based on service contracts were reduced, but persons were again engaged on this basis to perform tasks foreseen by the job systematization.

Activities related to the adoption of a new rulebook on the internal organization of the General Secretariat are in the final phase.

Unrealized recommendations relate to overspending on mobile phones, which are still approved without a substantive analysis of the justification for exceeding allowed limits.

- The General Secretariat did not consistently apply the provisions of the internal rulebook regarding the use of representation funds. The calculation principle, as well as the amount of compensation for members of the Appeals Council, remained unchanged. Certain weaknesses were again observed in the functioning of the internal control system during the implementation of public procurement procedures. Recommendations regarding the improvement of the functioning of the e-government system were not implemented – note from the Audit Office.