AUDIT SERVICE CANNOT UNDERTAKE PROJECTS

Story: Kofoya Tetteh, Koforidua

LACK of technical expertise has made it impossible for the Ghana Audit Service (GAS) to undertake performance audit into physical infrastructural projects such as roads, buildings and bridges.
Other initiatives, such as the Economic Recovery Programme (ERP), the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS), the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative and the National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL) have all not benefited from performance audit.
These are some of the major challenges facing the service, Mr Edward Dua Agyeman, the Auditor-General, has stated.
He made the statement in a paper presented at a meeting of Supreme Audit Institutions in Washington, DC, USA, last Thursday.
It was on the theme, “Transformation for the 21st Century: Maximising the impact of Supreme Audit Institutions”.
Mr Agyeman said staffing and logistical constraints had not permitted the GAS to carry out timely financial audits of all entities as mandated in the Constitution, the Audit Service Act and other laws of the country, thus causing a backlog of reports to Parliament.
“We have recruited architects and civil engineers but we need more and the funding to secure these services if we are to move forward,” he indicated.
Mr Agyeman said procurement audit required under the Public Procurement Act, Act 2003, was yet to be mainstreamed into the financial audit of the service.
“Environmental and forensic audits, as well as special review of beneficiaries of financial aid required under the Audit Service Act, have not yet been introduced,” he noted.
Mr Agyeman said in spite of the challenges, the GAS had undergone a major transformation that had enhanced its operations.
He said a partnership between the GAS and the National Audit Office (NAO) of the United Kingdom had yielded good dividends as a result of which the service, for instance, had now become self-accounting.
The Auditor General said in 2002/2003, the service conducted nation-wide payroll audit which revealed some serious weaknesses in the government payroll, such as incorrect personal data.
He said a payroll unit was subsequently established in 2003 to analyse the cost and strengths of the central government payroll and that had helped save the nation more than $500 million in payroll fraud over a period of three years.
Mr Agyeman said the GAS, in conjunction with NAO (UK), intended to carry out extensive education of partners whose interests were affected by the work of the Audit Service, including the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary.
“The objective will be to demonstrate that the service is independent of all, not part of the internal control systems and anti-corruption initiatives of the Executive,” he said.
Mr Agyeman said the growing interest of the public in the work of the Auditor-General had demonstrated the important contribution that the service made in helping the nation to spend wisely.