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Audit Reports were not to
indict Ministers - Auditor General
Accra, Oct. 30, Ghanadot/GNA - Mr. Edward
Dua Agyeman, the Auditor General on Tuesday said the just
ended proceedings of the Public Account Committee was not an
indictment on Ministers but a wake-up call for the various
ministries to effectively manage affairs.
"No Minister should be held accountable for the financial
improprieties of any public servant for his or her personal
gains. After all, the day-to-day mechanism of disbursements
is the responsibility of the Chief Director and his desk
officers"
Mr. Dua Agyeman was speaking at the opening of a two-day
validation workshop organised by the Internal Audit Agency
and the Audit Service on the guidelines of the roles and
responsibilities of Audit Report Implementation Committees (ARICs)
to enable them to function effectively.
Among those present at the workshop were the Chairman of the
Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, Mr. Sallas Mensah,
Chief Directors and Heads of Institutions as well as
internal and external auditors.
Mr. Dua Agyeman expressed regret that a section of the
public and the media had put political flavour on the
proceedings and had therefore missed its import.
He said the actual persons responsible for answering to the
queries raised in the Auditor General's reports were the
public servants of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies
(MDAs) and the Metropolitan, Municipal and District
Assemblies (MMDAs).
He said they should be mindful of their duties as the
operating officers of the public funds and should be
accountable for any of their misdeeds.
Touching on the roles and responsibilities of ARICs, Mr. Dua
Agyeman noted that ARICVs were to study audit reports and
recommendations arising from audit findings, monitor and
ensure that management took action to implement the audit
recommendations.
"In effect, the work of ARICs is meant to improve good
governance practices and ensure the existence of robust
internal assurance mechanisms in public sector institutions,
with special emphasis on financial management."
He said ARICs were supposed to have come into being about
seven years ago after the passage of the Audit Service Act,
2000 (Act 584) and that section 30 (1) of the Act required
MDAs and all institutions subject to audit by the
Auditor-General to set up ARICs.
Mr. Agyeman said though section 16 (8) of the Internal Audit
Agency Act 2003 (Act 658) reinforces that requirement, many
years down the line only a few institutions had established
functioning ARICs.
He said these may be due to the absence of very clear and
precise guidelines on the membership and their operations
and urged participants to take a cue from countries like the
United Kingdom, New Zealand and Canada, which had
established such committees.
He said members must detach themselves from the day-to-day
operations of an entity and focus dispassionately on
strategy and risk management.
Mr. Sallas Mensah, Chairman of the PAC called on the Chief
Justice to empanel the members of the Financial
Administration Tribunals to complete the accountability
cycle of the public financial management of the country as
required by section 66 of the Financial Administration Act
(Act 654) of 2003.
He said parliament, through the PAC placed great reliance on
audit reports, especially the Auditor General's report to
form opinions and assure itself on whether approved funds
had been used for intended purposes.
Mr. Mensah congratulated the Audit Service and the Internal
Audit Agency for organising the validation working, adding
that they would serve as efficient means to implement the
recommendations of auditors.
Mr Patrick Nomo, Director General of the Internal Audit
Agency called for a close co-operation between the auditor
and the ARICs to improve auditing in the public sector.
He said the current guidelines on the composition, roles and
responsibilities of ARICs were prepared and circulated to
the various MDAs and MMDAs in October 2006.
The workshop would enable the collation of participant's
views, comments and suggestions to enhance the quality of
the document for implementation.
GNA
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