By: Martin B. Housanau
Ebeye, Marshall Islands.
The absence of timely and verified audited accounts means that the successive and present Solomon Islands Government’s often plan and allocate funds without a full understanding of past expenditure performance, liabilities, and financial commitments.
This is not merely an administrative concern; it is a governance issue that affects every ministry, every program, and ultimately, every Solomon Islands citizen.
Recognizing this reality, all responsible Solomon Islanders who are loyal tax payers are calling on the responsible authorities of the Solomon Islands Government particularly the Ministry of Finance and Treasury, the Accountant General, and the Office of the Auditor-General to immediately address the prolonged SIG unaudited financial accounts from 2018 to 2025.
UNACCEPTABLE DELAY IN UNAUDITED PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
For nearly a decade, the nation has endured the unacceptable reality of delayed and outstanding audited public accounts. This prolonged failure has severely undermined the credibility of the Government’s financial reporting framework.
Under the Public Financial Management Act and the Public Audit Act, annual financial statements must be prepared, submitted for independent audit, and tabled before Parliament within statutory timelines. These are not discretionary requirements. They are legal obligations.
When audited accounts remain outstanding for years, it signals systemic breakdown — not routine delay.
DECADE OF BUDGETING WITHOUT VERIFIED FINANCIAL TRUTH
For nearly ten years now, national budgets have been formulated and approved without the assurance of independently verified financial outcomes from prior years. This raises serious concerns:
– How can Parliament assess spending performance without audited reports?
– How can fiscal risks be properly measured without verified liabilities?
– How can ministries be held accountable for public funds without audit scrutiny?
Approving new budgets without confirmed historical financial performance amounts to governing without a financial compass.
ACCOUNTABILITY CANNOT BE SELECTIVE
The Accountant General’s Office is responsible for preparing accurate and timely financial statements. The Auditor-General is mandated to independently examine those statements and report to Parliament. Both roles are foundational to democratic governance.
However, the Accountant General needs to be proactive in ensuring government accounts readiness for annual audit. The persistent lack of government unaudited accounts reflects the Accountant General’s Office incapacity and technical inability to prepare the accounts in a timely manner for auditing purposes. This is a clear indication of weak financial governance thus calls on the integrity of the Accountant General’s Office. Persistent delays indicate:
– Weak enforcement of statutory deadlines.
– Insufficient institutional capacity.
– Poor inter-agency coordination.
– A lack of urgency in prioritising financial accountability.
These structural weaknesses must be acknowledged and addressed transparently including the Accountant General’s Office technical inability.
THE COST OF INACTION
The continued absence of timely audited accounts carries real consequences:
– Erosion of public trust in financial governance.
– Increased risk of mismanagement and irregular expenditure.
– Weakened internal control systems.
– Reduced confidence from development partners and investors.
– Damage to the nation’s fiscal credibility.
For a country that relies heavily on responsible fiscal management, credibility is not optional — it is essential.
IMMEDIATE ACTIONS REQUIRED
We call upon the Ministry of Finance and Treasury, the Accountant General, and the Office of the Auditor-General to immediately;
1) Publicly disclose the status of all outstanding financial statements and audits.
2) Announce a time-bound Audit Backlog Clearance Plan.
3) Commit to a fixed annual reporting calendar with public accountability milestones.
4) Strengthen internal controls and monthly reconciliation compliance across ministries.
5) Report progress quarterly to Parliament and the public.
Transparency must begin with acknowledging the problem and presenting a clear recovery roadmap.
A MATTER OF NATIONAL INTEGRITY
Financial reporting is not a technical exercise confined to government offices. It is the foundation upon which public trust, national planning, and economic stability are built.
A decade of unaudited accounts is a governance crisis that demands decisive institutional leadership, and the Accountant and Auditor-General’s Office needs to justify tp all Solomon Islands tax payers the continued delays in audit financial reports.
The people of the Solomon Islands deserve clarity.
They deserve transparency.
They deserve audited accounts that reflect the true financial position of their nation.
The time to restore credibility is now.
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