Submission of budget estimates and control of expenditure

(1) Every Council shall, before the end of September in each year, submit to the Minister responsible for the Local Government for onward transmission to the Minister of Finance, in such a form as may be prescribed by the Financial Secretary, estimates of revenue and expenditure for the period of one year commencing from 1st April then next ensuing, containing full details of salaries, allowances and all other items of expenditure whatever, and the Minister responsible for Finance shall present the said estimates to the National Assembly with such amendments, if any, as he may consider necessary having regard to the financial position of the Council. (2) No expenditure shall be incurred by a Council unless it has been previously approved by the National Assembly but the Minister responsible for Finance may, if it appears to him to be of sufficient urgency, permit a Council to incur any lawful expenditure not prescribed in the approved estimates, and in every such case, the Council shall include such extra expenditure in the supplementary estimates and submit the same to the Minister of Finance for the approval of the National Assembly. (3) In this section, “lawful expenditure” mean expenditure incurred in the exercise of any of the powers or performance of any of the duties conferred or imposed on the Council by law. 26 (4) A Council may from time to time make regulations prescribing the manner in which the accounts of the Council are to be kept and disbursements made, and for the audit of the accounts of the Council by auditors duly approved by the (5) Regulations made under this section shall be subject to negative resolution. (6) Every person who contravenes or fails to comply with any of the regulations under this section, without prejudice to any civil liability which may be incurred in that behalf, commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both such fine and imprisonment.