128. There shall be
in and for the Bahamas a Consolidated Fund, into which, subject to the
provision of any law for the time being in force in The Bahamas, shall
be paid all revenues of The Bahamas.
129. (1) The Minister of Finance shall, before the end of each financial
year, cause to be prepared annual estimates of revenue and expenditure for public services during
the succeeding financial year, which shall be laid before the House of Assembly.
(2) The estimates of expenditure shall show separately the sums
required to meet statutory expenditure (as defined in Article 130(7) of this Constitution) and the sums
required to meet other expenditure proposed to be paid out of the Consolidated Fund.
130.
(1) The Minister of Finance shall, in respect of each financial
year, at the earliest convenient moment before the commencement of that financial year,
introduce in the House of Assembly an Appropriation Bill containing,
under appropriate heads for the several services
required, the estimated aggregated sums which are proposed to be
expended (otherwise than by way of statutory
expenditure) during that financial year.
(2) Subject to paragraphs (4) and (6) of this Article, the sums set
out in the Appropriation Act in respect of a financial year shall represent the limit and extent of the
public expenditure for that financial year.
(3) Where any sum is set out in the Appropriation Act in respect of
a financial year and at the end of that year there is an unexpended balance of that sum, the
unexpended balance shall lapse.
(4) The Minister of Finance may, in case of necessity, from time to
time cause to be prepared supplementary estimates of expenditure which shall be laid before and
voted on by the House of Assembly.
(5) In respect of all supplementary expenditure voted on by the
House of Assembly in pursuance of paragraph (4) of this Article, the Minister of Finance may, at
any time before the end of the financial year, introduce into the House
of Assembly a Supplementary Appropriation Bill
containing, under appropriate heads, the aggregate sums so voted and shall, as soon as possible after the end of
each financial year, introduce into the House of Assembly a final
Appropriation Bill containing any such sums which have
not yet been included in any Appropriation Bill.
(6) That part of any estimate of expenditure laid before the House
of Assembly which shows statutory expenditure shall not be voted on by the House, and such
expenditure shall, without further authority of Parliament, be paid out
of the Consolidated Fund.
( 7) For the purposes of this Article and Article 129 of this
Constitution-
(a) "financial year" means any period of twelve
months
beginning of 1st January in any year or such other date as Parliament
may prescribe; and
(b) "statutory expenditure" means
expenditure charged on the
Consolidated Fund or on the General revenues and assents of the
Bahamas by any provisions of this Constitution or of any other law
for
the time being in force in The Bahamas.
131.
No sum shall be paid out of
the Consolidated Fund except upon the authority of a warrant under the
hand of the Minister of Finance or under the hand of some
person authorized by him in writing; and sums so issued shall be
disposed of for meeting public expenditure authorized under
Article 130 of this Constitution or, in the case of statutory
expenditure, for the purposed appointed by law.
132.
Where at any time for any
justifiable reason, the Appropriation Bill in respect of any financial
year has not come into operation by the beginning of that
financial year, the Minister of Finance may, to such an extent and
subject to such conditions as may be prescribed, or if no
conditions have been prescribed on a resolution to that effect passed by
the House of Assembly, issue a warrant for the payment out
of the Consolidated Fund or other public funds of The Bahamas of such
sums as he may consider necessary for the
continuance of the public service, but a statement of the sums so
authorized shall, as soon as practicable, be laid before and
voted on by the House of Assembly and the aggregate sums so voted shall
be included, under the appropriate heads, in the next
Appropriation Bill immediately following.
133. (1)
Parliament may by law provide for the establishment of a
Contingencies Fund and may authorize the Minister of Finance to make advances from that Fund if he is
satisfied that there is an unforeseen need for expenditure for which no
provision or no sufficient provisions has been made
by an Appropriation Act.
(2) Where any advances are made by virtue of an authorization
conferred under paragraph (1) of this Article, a supplementary estimate of the sums required
to replace the amount so advanced shall, as soon as practicable, be laid
before and voted on by the House of
Assembly and the sums so voted shall be included in a Supplementary Appropriation Bill or a Final Appropriation
Bill.
134.
The Public Debt of the
Bahamas, including the interest on the debt, sinking fund payments and
redemption monies in respect of that debt and the costs,
charges and expenses incidental to the management of that debt, is
hereby charged on the Consolidated Fund.
135. (1)
There shall be paid to the holders of the offices to which this
Article applies such salaries and allowances as may be prescribed by or under any law.
(2) The salaries payable to the holders of the offices to which
this Article applies are hereby charged on the Consolidated Fund.
(3) The salary and allowance payable to the holder of any office to
which this Article applies and his other terms of service shall not be altered to his disadvantage
after his appointment, and, for the purposes of this paragraph, in so
far as the terms of service of any person depend upon
the option of that person, the terms for which he opts shall be taken to
be more advantageous to him than any other
terms for which he might have opted.
(4) This Article apples to the office of Governor-General, Justice
of the Supreme Court, Justice of Appeal, Auditor-General and member of any Commission established by
Chapter VIII of this Constitution or of the Public Service Board of Appeal.
136.
(1) There shall be an Auditor-General whose office shall be a
public office.
(2) The Auditor-General shall be appointed by the Governor-General,
by instrument under the Public Seal, acting on the recommendation of the Public Service
Commission made after the Commission has consulted the Prime Minister.
(3) The accounts of the Supreme Court, the Senate, the House of
Assembly, all departments and offices of the Government (but excluding the Department of the
Auditor-General), the Public Service Commission, the Judicial and Legal
Service Commission, the Police Service Commission
and all Magistrates' Courts shall, at least once in every year, be
audited and reported on by the Auditor-General who,
with his subordinate staff, shall at all times be entitled to have
access to all books, records, returns and reports
relating to such accounts.
(4) The Auditor-General shall submit his reports made under
paragraph (3) of this Article without undue delay to the Speaker (or, if the office of Speaker is
vacant or the Speaker is for any reason unable to perform the functions
of his office, to the Deputy Speaker) who shall
cause them to be laid before the House of Assembly without undue delay.
(5) In the exercise of this functions under the provisions of
paragraphs (3) and(4) of this Article, the Auditor-general shall not be subject to the direction or control of
any other person or authority.
(6) The accounts of the department of the Auditor-General shall be
audited and reported on by the Minister of Finance and the provisions of paragraphs (3) and (4) of
this Article shall apply in relation to the exercise by that Minister of
those function as they apply in relation to
audits and reports made by the Auditor-General.
(7)
Nothing in this Article shall prevent the performance by the
Auditor-General of-
(a) such other functions in relation to the
accounts of the Government
and that accounts of other public authorities
and other bodies administering
public funds in
The Bahamas as may be prescribed by or under any law for
the time being in force in The Bahamas; or
(b) such other functions in relation to the
supervision and control of
expenditure form public funds in The Bahamas
as may be so prescribed.
(8) The Auditor-General may be removed from office only for
inability to discharge the functions thereof (whether arising form infirmity of mind or body or any other
cause) or for misbehavior, and shall not be so removed except in
accordance with the provisions of paragraph (9) of
this Article.
(9) The Auditor-General shall be removed from office by the
Governor-General if the question of his removal from office has been referred to a tribunal appointed
under paragraph (10) of this Article and the tribunal has recommended to
the Governor-General that he ought to be
removed from office for inability as aforesaid or for misbehavior.
(10) If the Prime Minister represents to the Governor-General that
the question of removing the Auditor-General from office for inability as aforesaid or for
misbehavior ought to be investigated, then-
(a) the Governor-General shall appoint a tribunal, which
shall
consist of a chairman and not less than two other members,
selected
by the Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of
the
Judicial and Legal Service Commission, from among persons who
hold
or have held or are eligible to hold high judicial office; and
(b) the tribunal shall inquire into the matter and report
on the
facts thereof to the Governor-General and recommend to the
Governor-General whether the Auditor-General ought to be removed
from office for inability as aforesaid or for misbehavior.
(11) If the question of removing the Auditor-general form office
has been referred to a tribunal under paragraph (9) of this Article, the Governor-General, acting in
accordance with the advice of the Public Service Commission, may suspend
the Auditor-general from performing the
functions of this office and any such suspension may at any time be
revoked by the Governor-General, and shall in any case
cease to have effect if the tribunal recommends to the Governor-General
that the Auditor-General should not be removed
from office.