The Audit Bureau said there is a weakness in coordination between the Legal Department of the Kuwait Municipality and the General Department of Investigations of the Ministry of Interior when dealing with violations of Municipal regulations.
The Audit Bureau has taken note of the work of the Municipality for fiscal 2021-2022 including a violation of the Cabinet’s decision regarding the housing allowance for judges and members of the Public Prosecution and the Fatwa and Legislation Department, where it specified that Kuwaitis have the choice between getting government housing or opting for housing allowance of 200 dinars for singles and 3,300 dinars for those who are married, as well as the rules for disbursing the allowance.
The Bureau said the municipality paid a housing allowance to members of the Legal Department in violation of the third clause of the same decision regarding the impermissibility of allocating a government housing or granting a housing allowance to those who obtained a plot of land only two years from the date of receiving the loan or allocating the plot, as the objective of approving the housing allowance is to compensate the employee for not enjoy housing indicating the existence of a court ruling forfeiting the right of the entity to claim the refund of the money that were spent unlawfully.
The Bureau requested that the necessary measures be taken towards stopping and recovering the amounts that were unlawfully disbursed, listing similar cases and reporting in this regard.
The report touched on the observations that marred the work of the legal department in the municipality, which is responsible for preparing statements of claims and defense memoranda for the municipality, attending the court sessions, following up on the implementation of judgments, expressing legal opinion on issues related to its activity, which are raised in the municipal council and its committees, and reviewing contracts concluded by the municipality expressing an opinion on what is indicated in their regard, as well as conducting administrative investigations referred to it by specialists, reviewing the minutes of violations and regulations before referring them to the Public Prosecution, and preparing draft laws, decrees, regulations and decisions related to the activity of the municipality in accordance with the provisions of the articles of Kuwait Municipality Law (33) of 2016.
The report revealed that there was poor coordination between the Kuwait Municipality represented by the Legal Department and the Ministry of Interior (General Department of Investigations), where some difficulties were noted regarding reports of violations of municipal regulations, through the following:
01- Failure to unify the numbers of violations cases between the legal department in the municipality and the general department of investigations, which constitutes an obstacle for the municipality’s lawyer in following up on these cases and facilitating the search and investigation process.
02- Failure to receive the municipality’s records at the General Department of Investigations, and it is sufficient to receive 250 files per week, which causes the accumulation of the records and their delay with the legal department.
03- When appealing municipal misdemeanors cases, a session is not set for it, which leads to the lapse of the criminal case due to the lapse of time and the prescription of civil claims for the state funds due.
04 – Delay in issuing judgments, copying the file, or any other requests to the municipality by the Public Prosecution and the General Department of Investigations.
05- When a session is set in the municipal misdemeanour department, whether in the first degree, opposition or appeal, the file is not sent to the competent department, and the session is postponed more than once to include the original file.
The report dealt with the irregularity of the documentary cycle and the identification of responsibilities and powers in the legal department in the municipality.
A request was made to provide the Bureau with the final judicial rulings issued in the interest of the Municipality with compensation and appended to the executive formula with an indication of the measures taken regarding their implementation.
The legal department reported in its letter that the relevant department did not provide it with the required documents .
The court maintained that it was not able to examine the files of the final judicial rulings issued in the interest of the municipality for compensation and appended to the executive formula, despite its request and urgency, and to address the officials in the legal administration in the municipality.
The Bureau requested coordination with the concerned authorities to take the necessary measures regarding these obstacles and to benefit and facilitate its work in providing the required documents in accordance with its terms of reference set forth in Law No. 30 of 1964 establishing the Audit Bureau and its amendments.
