Bahrain sets up anti-graft task force

Bahrain’s government has set up a task force that will look into the violations and irregularities highlighted by the National Audit Office (NAO) in its report.

The NAO issues an annual report after it completes its audit on the accounts of ministries, departments and state-linked companies, and presents it to the king, the government and the parliament.

The latest audit report was presented last week by NAO Auditor-General Hassan Khalifa Al Jalahma.

Referring to the report at the weekly cabinet session on Monday, Prime Minister Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa called for dealing firmly with the violations and irregularities mentioned by the auditors.

“The Prime Minister directed to activate the principles of accountability and transparency against the violators, issuing instructions to government departments to address the violations and remarks cited in the report and rectify them immediately,” Secretary-General of Cabinet Dr Yasser Bin Eisa Al Nasser, said in a statement following the session

“The Prime Minister tasked a government team, led by the Cabinet Affairs Minister, to study the substantial remarks and recommendations included in NAO’s annual report 2015-2016 and address them appropriately, in line with the control policies adopted by the government towards all its bodies.”

The report highlighted several cases of non-compliance with public spending rules. The parliament is expected to call for action against graft.

The NAO was set up in 2011 to increase transparency in government and government-linked companies

source : gulfnews