MIIC – Failure to submit Six Outstanding Appropriation Accounts to account for $15.3 Billion in Budgetary Allocations

Auditor General's Findings

The 2023/2024 Auditor General’s Annual Report (subsections 3.2.187–3.2.189) found that, contrary to Section 24(I) of the FAA Act which requires accounting officers to prepare and submit to the Minister and the Auditor General the Appropriation Account, setting out the expenditure for the year against the approved budgetary allocation, four months after the fiscal year, the MIIC was yet to present six Appropriation Accounts for the financial years 2020/2021 (the six-month period October 2020 to March 2021, following the de-merger of MICAF) and 2022/2023 to 2023/2024 for its Recurrent and Capital Heads, with a cumulative approved budget of $15.3 billion.

Permanent Secretary (current): Sancia Bennett Templer

Breach Category: Resource Management

Permanent Secretary (at breach): Sancia Bennett Templer

Breach Type: Untimely Preparation of Appropriation Accounts

Status: Non-Compliance

Last Assessed: June 12, 2026

Year Reported: 2024

Year Resolved:

Recommendation

MIIC should implement proper systems that will ensure the Appropriation Accounts are prepared and submitted in keeping with the statutory deadlines (Subsection 3.2.188).

The MIIC subsequently advised (3.2.189) that the delay in the preparation and submission of the 2022/23 and 2023/24 Appropriation Accounts was due to human resource constraints and recruitment challenges, as it had been unsuccessful in filling two senior posts over the past two years, and that steps were being taken to ensure the preparation of these accounts with a projected submission date of May 2025.

JAMP Update

The MIIC responded to JAMP on May 5, 2026, advising that the Appropriation Accounts were not submitted for the six years 2020/2021 and 2022/2023 to 2023/2024, missing the May 2025 projected submission date previously reported to the Auditor General and that the Ministry has set a new projected submission date of December 2027.