Veep Urges Auditors To Maintain Standards

By Edmund Mingle
The Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur has expressed worry about the deteriorating image of the auditing profession in the public sector, and urged the auditing community to work to change the trend.
He said the highly respectable image which the profession exuded in the past, could be restored by ensuring strict adherence to standards to check financial discipline in public sector institutions.
Vice President Amissah-Arthur said this when he opened the 9th Annual Internal Audit Forum organised by Internal Audit Agency (IAA) in Accra yesterday under the theme, “Improving governance in the public sector”.
He cited the situation in the past where public sector auditors were virtually feared by heads and directors of public institutions because of their strictness and readiness to expose rot in financial management, indicating that the situation was currently the reverse, where some auditors did not perform as required for fear of victimisation.
“Now, public sector managers either ignore audit queries or respond to them late,” he said, noting that the situation had led to financial malpractices exposed in the many financial audit reports on public accounts.
“There is an urgent need for adequacy in internal controls to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of public institutions,” he said.
The Vice President said the presence of effective and strict internal financial controls was a vital way to achieve good governance in the public sector and called for support and cooperation for internal auditors from heads of institutions to help in eradicating inefficiencies and ensuring quality management of financial resources.
He commended auditors for their contribution to national development, and urged them to continue to adhere to the tenets of the profession by promoting transparency and accountability, as well as strictly applying the rules and procedures.
The two-day forum, which is being attended by heads of public institutions, professional auditors across the country, is aimed at finding ways of improving internal auditing in the public service towards promoting good governance.
Nii Adumansa-Baddoo, Chairman of Internal Audit Agency Board, who chaired the opening session, noted that good governance in the public sector, was about systematic and sustainable performance improvement.
He said good governance generally covers all aspects of the way a country is governed, including its economic policies and regulatory framework saying “good governance is much more than rules, regulations, accountability, structures and frame-works”.
He said the end product of good governance among other things, includes the availability of basic services such as clean potable water, good road network, quality education, social security, equal opportunities and justice for all irrespective of social status.
Nii Adumansa-Baddoo announced that the agency with assistance from Africa Development Bank was developing a modular training manual in performance Audit for workers in the public sector, saying ”the manual will be used to train 500 internal auditors on performance audit.”
Mr. Kwabena Obese Jecty, Director-General of IAA said internal audit had a critical role to play in the governance process, explaining that “as the third line of defence in the corporate risk management arrangements, the primary focus of the internal auditor is to help the management of organization perform their functions”.
He bemoaned the use of transfers and postings of internal auditors in the public sector as a means of punishment of auditors who did expose wrongdoing, saying the practice was retrogressive.

Keep The City Clean---Veep Charges Local Authorities

By Edmund Mingle

The Vice President, Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur has charged the local authorities in Accra, to take measures to keep the cities clean

Vice-President Amissah-Arthur interacting with Ms Rita Odoley Sowah,
MCE of LaDMA and Dr Joseph Siaw-Adjepong CEO of Zoomlion
at La-Wireles

Reminding them of the responsibility of local authorities in promoting environmental health and effective waste management, the Vice President said there was the need to adopt innovative means to keep the capital clean 

Vice President Amissah-Arthur said this when he paid a follow-up visit to some dumping sites in the metropolis on Friday, to ascertain the progress of work by the local authorities to clear heaps of refuse.

He had earlier visited the sites on August 4 during which he directed that all piled up refuse in the metropolis should be cleared.

Satisfied with the work done by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) and the La Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly, (LaDMA) the Vice President urged them to sustain the effort in effectively managing waste in the city.

The piling up of refuse at the various dump sites, which has become a health threat, is as a result of the difficulty in conveying refuse to the Kpong landfill site, amidst its intermittent closure. However, a new landfill site has been created at Nsawam Addoagyiri where tonnes of the city’s waste are currently being dumped.

“From now on, we don’t want to see an accumulation of waste at the dump sites,” he said at its end of his visit at the Kokomlemle dump site where he found a mountain of refuse bag cleared.

He commended Zooomlion Ghana, the leading waste management company, for supporting in the clearing of the refuse, and reminded AMA and LaDMA that the responsibility now lies with them to ensure that refuse was consistently conveyed from dumping the sites to the landfill areas.

In addition, the Vice President assured them of support in the implementation of waste management initiatives, stressing that, “We have to make progress.”

Asked whether his earlier visit to the sites and his directive for the refuse to be cleared was not an indictment on the performance of the local authorities and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, he answered in the negative, adding that his intervention was to lend support in securing the assistance of the private sector in the waste management exercise.

As part of the visit, he inspected the dumping site at La Wireless where a pile of solid waste that existed previously had been cleared.

Rita Odorley Sowah Chief Exective of LaDMA informed the Vice President about plans to build a modern public toilet and dumping site

At Agbogbloshie Market, the Vice President found that heaps of refuse at the market had been cleared, while the main Agbogbloshie drain and the Odaw river, which had been filled with plastic materials, were being dredged by the AMA.

He also visited the Mallam Atta Market where the dumping area had been cleaned, and the Britania dumping site at Kokomlemle, where the AMA has plans to build a refuse transfer station to serve the area.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Julius Debrah, Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo, Mayor of Accra, Mr. Alfred Oko Vanderpuije, LaDMA Chief Executive, Rita Sowah and Chief Executive of Zoomlion, Joseph Siaw Agyepong, jointly visited some of the areas to find out how to improve the waste management in the city.

The team’s visit, which was in collaboration with the Environmental Service Providers Association (ESPA), followed the Vice President’s call for improved waste management in the country.

The areas the team visited included the Kaneshie, Agbogbloshie and La markets, and the Tema lorry station in Accra, where sanitation workers were seen cleaning the environment.

Mr. Vanderpuije also took the team to inspect the dredging of the Odaw river, and discussed with the ministers the need for support to keep the drains clean.

Mr. Debrah, called for attitudinal change, saying the poor waste disposal practices by residents and traders, was to blame for the unclean environment.

He announced that the ministry would hold a meeting with the leadership of traders in the various markets to develop measures in keeping the markets clean.

The Minister expressed gratitude to the waste management contractors, particularly Zoomlion Ghana, which provided over 100 tipper trucks and excavators for the refuse cleaning exercise, for their contribution which ensured the success of the exercise.

“We will continue to collaborate with service providers in keeping the country clean,” he said, adding that the nationwide crash exercise, which was launched by the Ministry to clear piled up waste would be sustained.