28.07.2022

ARE AUDIT REPORTS GOING TO WAIT FOR THE NEXT COMPOSITION OF THE ZENICA-DOBOJ CANTONAL ASSEMBLY?

The Collegium of the Zenica-Doboj Cantonal Assembly held another session without putting audit reports on the Assembly's agenda. Recognizing the importance of public audit, the government and assembly anti-corruption bodies reacted, seeking that audit reports be introduced into the parliamentary procedure. Despite the reactions, some members of the Assembly's Collegium continued to disregard the audit reports for the Budget, the Health Insurance Fund, and the Ministry of Economy of the Zenica-Doboj Canton published in 2021.

Such treatment of these important reports that contain recommendations for the improvement of the institutional performance in this canton and more efficient spending of the budgetary funds the Collegium justifies by saying that the sessions of the ZDC's Assembly have been used to review only the acts submitted by the cantonal government. However, at the last session of the Collegium, an exception to the rule was made concerning the review of audit reports, which could not have been done in eleven months. Namely, the Collegium's members decided to integrate into the Assembly's agenda a proposal of the changes and amendments to the ZDC Budget for 2022 by summary procedure, even though the Government of Zenica-Doboj Canton reviewed the document a day later.

To protect the interests of citizens and ensure that all observed irregularities in the spending of public money are removed, it is vital that the cantonal highest legislative bodies control the realization of audit recommendations. The Collegium's relation toward audit reports for the past eleven months has been ignorant, which makes it senseless and brings fewer opportunities to employ public oversight to ensure the removal of observed irregularities in the spending of public funds and improve institutional performance.

The project “More Effective Public Audit for Less Corruption in Bosnia and Herzegovina“ is implemented by the Centers for Civic Initiatives (CCI) with the financial support of Sweden. The project aims to contribute to more accountable spending of the budgetary funds and less corruption in the public institutions in BiH.