The Integrity Commission, IC, has denied claims made by Member of Parliament Everald Warmington that the agency has not been audited for years, and that no audit report has been submitted by the commission to parliament.

Mr. Warmington made the claims yesterday during a sitting of the Standing Finance Committee of the House of Representatives. 

In a statement this morning, the Integrity Commission noted that contrary to Mr. Warmington’s claims, the accounting and financial affairs of the Integrity Commission have been audited every year since it was formed. 

The commission said the audits have been conducted by an independent external auditor approved by the Minister of Finance.

It stressed that the audited financial statements are formally submitted to and tabled in Parliament each year, as a part of the commission’s annual reports.

This, it noted is in keeping with the provisions of the Integrity Commission Act.

The commission said in respect of the 2023/2024 fiscal year which ended on March 31, its annual report, inclusive of the audited and signed financial statements for that fiscal year, was submitted to parliament on June 26, and tabled on July 9, 2024.

The IC noted that the Integrity Commission Oversight Committee, which Mr. Warmington is a member of, met with the commission for several hours yesterday morning to review the 2023/2024 annual report which includes audited financial statements.

The commission added that it is concerned that some parliamentarians continue to exhibit a clear lack of knowledge, or understanding, of the very laws that they are elected to write.