13 Sep 2020

Parliament has passed an Accountants (Amendment) Bill of 2020 that seeks to amend the Accountants Act of 2010 to remove challenges imposed by the act.

When presenting the bill, Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Dr Thapelo Matsheka, said the intention was to, among other things, remove oversight and regulation of all auditors from the Botswana Institute of Chartered Accountants to the Botswana Accountancy Oversight Authority.

This, he said, would reinforce oversight and significantly enhance accountability.

The bill also strengthened mandate of the institute by making it compulsory for those who provided accountancy services to register with the institute and make it compulsory for employees to hire accountants registered with the institute.

Furthermore, he stated that in line with spirit of citizen empowerment, the bill proposed reservation of at least 50 per cent of the council membership for citizens.

“This is to empower citizens and ensure that they play an active role in the affairs of the Institute, and ultimately in the development of the accounting profession in Botswana,” he stated.

In line with best practice, Dr Matsheka said the bill provided for, among others, appointment of a secretary to the council who would not the chief executive officer and the establishment of an independent appeals committee with secretary who would not be the chief executive officer.

This, he said, would wage appellants the comfort that the decisions made by the committee were not bias..

Furthermore, the bill expanded and clarified other operational and administrative issues relating to among others, the quorum of the board, alignment of the year end of the institute with that of government, and new definition of terms.Prior to that, MPs appreciated the amendments  noting that the changes were in line with good practices.

They said the amendments would go a long way in curbing tax invasion.

They called for strengthening of the auditor general’s office, and that more Batswana should establish themselves in the field of accounting as the profession was in the hands of foreigners and naturalised Batswana.

Furthermore, they stated that financial reporting should conform to international standards in order for the country to uphold good tenets, good governance and reputation with ethical standards. ENDS