Al-Zidi directs the formation of the Supreme Sovereign Council for Integrity and Oversight
On Saturday, Prime Minister Ali Faleh al-Zaidi directed the formation of the Supreme Sovereign Council for Integrity, Oversight and Recovery of Public Funds.
A statement from the Prime Minister’s Media Office, received by Shafaq News Agency, indicated that Al-Zaydi chaired a special meeting regarding procedures for auditing government contracts, in the presence of the head of the Federal Board of Financial Control, the head of the Federal Integrity Commission, the head of the Public Prosecution, and the judge of the Karkh Investigation Court specializing in integrity cases.
He added that Al-Zaydi directed the formation of the Supreme Sovereign Council for Integrity, Oversight and Recovery of Public Funds, headed by him and with the membership of the head of the Financial Control Bureau and the head of the Integrity Commission, to carry out oversight monitoring of ministries, non-ministerial entities and governorates on essential and important issues, in order to stop the waste of public funds and recover state funds, provided that the results of the council’s work are sent to the judiciary.
Al-Zaydi also directed, according to the statement, the need to verify the economic feasibility of projects and to have specialized subcommittees to audit government contracts in order to ensure their compliance with applicable laws and instructions.
The statement indicated that the meeting included a discussion on forming a central committee between the Financial Control Bureau, the Integrity Commission and the Ministry of Finance, to undertake the task of developing a mechanism for auditing and investigating government contracts before they are concluded, to ensure their compliance with the approved allocations.
Last Thursday, Al-Zaydi directed the regulatory bodies and the competent law enforcement authorities to initiate extensive investigation procedures regarding a number of important contracts concluded by ministries and government institutions, to ensure their compliance with laws and instructions and to protect public funds.
An official statement, received by Shafaq News Agency, stated that the directives included auditing those contracts, identifying shortcomings in them, and identifying those responsible for what was described as “injustice and abuse of public funds,” in addition to revealing the parties benefiting from them at the expense of the public interest.
Shafaq.com