Speaking at the inaugural Chair of Council Awards on 23 October 2026, Seipati Boulton, Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee of Council at MUT, praised the Institution’s progress in moving from a disclaimer audit opinion to an unqualified audit opinion with findings, while cautioning that recovery must now give way to long-term resilience.
Delivering an address titled “From Recovery to Resilience: Celebrating Progress, Strengthening Governance and Preparing for the Next Audit,” Boulton described the turnaround as a major milestone for financial management, control environments, and institutional commitment across the University. “Moving from a disclaimer audit opinion to an unqualified audit opinion with findings is a significant achievement,” Boulton told attendees. “Recovery is an accomplishment; resilience is a responsibility. An unqualified audit opinion with findings is not the end of our journey, it is a platform from which we must build stronger governance, improve institutional performance, and establish a sustainable culture of accountability.”
Boulton outlined five strategic pillars necessary to sustain the University’s financial and operational turnaround. She said that achieving an improved audit outcome required confronting systemic weaknesses, making difficult decisions, and fostering coordinated effort across Council, Executive Management, risk teams, internal audit, and University staff. Boulton emphasised that meaningful institutional progress relies on collective ownership and consistent execution across every level of the institution.
She also mentioned the importance of embedding governance beyond compliance. “Good governance must go beyond audit preparation to inform how MUT plans, allocates resources, manages contracts, and accounts for public funds,” she said, adding that some key focus areas are preventive governance, which will require identifying emerging issues early rather than waiting for external auditors; consistent consequence management; and operational integration, which is embedding internal controls into daily operations as standard practice.
Boulton said that addressing potential vulnerabilities, such as procurement irregularities, contract management gaps, information system weaknesses, and compliance deficits, was essential to prevent backsliding. Boulton urged Executive Management to establish clear risk mitigations, assign accountable risk owners, and set measurable progress indicators.
Boulton said that audit readiness must be a year-round institutional discipline, rather than a last-minute scramble. She advised management to keep financial records precise and reconcile accounts regularly; maintain complete supporting documentation for all procurement and asset management activities; address root causes when audit findings recur rather than repeating previous ineffective recommendations.
Boulton advocated for shared responsibility and lasting commitments. “Securing MUT’s future depends on ethical conduct, sound financial stewardship, and stakeholder trust,” she said. She called on Council, management, staff, and external partners to make three lasting pledges – prevent recurrence. “Never return to the conditions that produced a disclaimer audit opinion,” she said. The second pledge was cultural accountability, which should embed risk management and accountability into everyday institutional culture. And third pledge was continuous preparedness. “Begin preparing for the next audit cycle immediately through reliable records and proactive resolution of findings,” Boulton said. “MUT has demonstrated that recovery is possible. Our task now is to ensure that the progress achieved becomes the foundation for lasting institutional resilience,” Boulton concluded.