International Journal of Auditing – April 2009
Nepal
Audit General Testifies Before Committee Restructuring Constitutional Bodies
In January 2009, Bachchu Ram Dahal, the Acting Auditor General of Nepal, appeared before the Committee for Determining the Form of Constitutional Bodies (CDFCB) to discuss the present structure and function of the Office of the Auditor General and the proposed structure of the SAI under Nepal’s new constitution. In accordance with its mandate, the Constituent Assembly (CA), which was formed following an election in April 2008 and declared Nepal a Federal Democratic Republic in May 2008, is writing a new constitution and formed CDFCB to recommend the structure of constitutional bodies under the new constitution.
 Bachchu Ram Dahal, the Acting Auditor General of Nepal, during the presentation to the CDFCB |
The Acting Auditor General briefed the CDFCB members on the structure of the Office of the Auditor General; the legislative procedures for appointing the Auditor General; and the office’s functioning, reporting, and auditing frameworks. Mr. Dahal focused the committee’s attention on the model of the Nepali SAI, its independence, and the scope of its audits under the new constitution. An overview of several international models for external audit—the parliamentary, the judicial, and the board models—was also presented before the committee.
The lawmakers expressed serious concerns about corruption issues and the SAI’s role in controlling corruption. Mr. Dahal informed the committee that the Office of the Auditor General has identified numerous examples of weak internal management controls and cases of corruption; however, the investigation of corruption is outside its mandate. A separate institution, the Investigation of Abuse of Authority, is in charge of investigating corruption.
Finally, the CDFCB asked the Nepali SAI to provide legislative hardware and software from different countries, the Mexico Declaration on SAI Independence, and information on different types of SAIs in democratic countries around the world.
Mr. Dahal assured the CDFCB that the Nepali SAI is committed to supporting the committee by providing details on the SAI structure to be included in the new constitution and by performing a comparative study of the organizational structure, independence, and mandates of different types of SAIs around the world.
For additional information, contact the Office of the Auditor General of Nepal:
E-mail: oagnep@ntc.net.np, infoag@most.gov.np
Web site: www.oagnepal.gov.np