The Principal Deputy High Representative, Ambassador Ralph Johnson today met the Auditor General of the Republika Srpska Supreme Audit Institution, Bosko Ceko, to convey his support for the work of this institution and his appreciation of its cooperation with the international team which audited the Republika Srpska public accounts.
Ambassador Johnson stressed the need for the Republika Srpska Government to support the work of the Supreme Audit Institution and he said that this function must be given more than simple assurances, so that it can operate in a truly independent manner. Support means increased funding and the strict avoidance of any politically-motivated actions that may impede the Supreme Audit Institution’s work.
When the results of a three-month audit, conducted in the Federation by the Special Auditor appointed by the High Representative and in the RS by an OSCE audit team in cooperation with the RS Supreme Audit Institution, were announced earlier this week, the OSCE and OHR expressed their deep concern about the state of public finances in BiH and the glaring limitations of existing mechanisms of control over tax-payers’ money.
T tax-payers’ money.
The audits pointed to an urgent need for reform of internal control systems together with further audit work by the relevant domestic agencies. The governments are called upon to make progress in taking immediate steps to improve the overall control environment and to give substantially greater support to the Supreme Audit function.