Parliamentary inquiry sought over alleged decade-long failure to audit Male’ City Council

Mohamed Ibrahim (Kudu), a lawmaker from the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), has asked for a parliamentary inquiry, alleging failure to audit the Male’ City Council in the last 10 years.

In a letter addressed to Speaker Abdul Raheem Abdulla on Saturday, the North Galolhu representative noted that the Male’ City Council generates revenue from land, property and public resources in the Maldivian capital.

Kudu said that despite this, he found that the council has not been audited in the last 10 years, adding that the auditor general has made no effort to audit the council despite being legally mandated to audit all state institutions under the Audit Act.

II therefore believe it is the responsibility of the People’s Majlis to clarify why an audit hasn’t been done on the Male’ City Council, and take necessary measures quickly,” he wrote.

Kudu asked for a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee to be held as quickly as possible to clarify why the council hasn’t been audited, examine why it has been so long since an audit was done on the council, and push for audits to be done and reports published as soon as possible.

He also asked for the committee to summon representatives from the Male’ City Council and the Auditor General for questioning as it conducts the inquiry.

The possible inquiry comes after Male’ City Mayor Adam Azim claimed during an MDP campaign event in December that an audit had been done on the council despite many challenging him that it would be impossible.