Public officers urged to co-operate with Audit Service personnel

Mr Emmanuel K. Simpson, Volta Regional Auditor on Thursday urged public officials to corporate with personnel of the Audit Service in the performance of their duties.

He said excuses of “I’m not ready, I’m not ready” must cease to enable the Service perform its Constitutional duty of ensuring transparency and accountability in the management of public funds.

Mr Simpson was delivering a public lecture in Ho as part of activities marking the Centenary of the Service under the theme: “A Centenary of Public Sector Auditing- Defining New Frontiers.”

He observed that many public officers were frustrating personnel of the Service with excuses and said such attitudes must stop.

According to him, last year for instance, some District Assemblies in the region could not summit their financial accounts to donors due to lack of cooperation with auditors from the Service.

He said personnel from the Audit Service are protectors of public money  with whom public institutions must develop good relationships.

Mr. Richard Akuamoah Asiedu, Central Government Audit Department of the Audit Service, advised heads of public institutions to be vigilant and dutiful to avoid sanctions for financial indiscipline.

He urged them to respond to observations in the Auditor-General’s Report and establish Auditor-General’s report implementation desks to ensure compliance with recommendations in those Reports.

Ms. Lorraine E. Nyatepe, Public Affairs Officer of Audit Service, on behalf of the Auditor General, said government auditing is the cornerstone of good governance and urged all stakeholders to help the Service perform its duty creditably.

Source: GNA