Audited report on Auditor-General presented to Parliament

Accra, Oct. 29, GNA- The first ever audit report on the Auditor-General was presented to Parliament on Friday The constitution mandates Parliament to appoint auditors to go through the books of the Auditor-General, however, the provision has never been carried out since the country went into constitutional rule in 1992.

Parliament in March this year, appointed chartered accountants to audit the Auditor-General's Department and present a report to it within six months.

Mr Freddy Blay, First Deputy Speaker of Parliament on Friday received the report prepared by Opoku, Andoh and Company, a chartered accountants firm based in Kumasi and Tema.

Mr Peter Opoku, an official of the company presented the report on behalf of the firm to the Deputy Speaker on behalf of the Speaker, Mr Peter ala Adjetey.

Mr Blay said the report was very significant since it would go a long way to satisfy many requests by Ghanaians for accountability, transparency and good governance in matters of public finance. He said this was now a case of the "watchman watching the watchman, adding that Parliament was now taking the issue of corruption seriously. Mr Blay said although the report was being presented to the House at a time it was about to end its term, it was "better late than never", adding that such reports should now become a matter of routine. Mr Opoku said the report covers a period of 10 years of the Auditor-General's accounts.

He said although they had problems with retrieval of documents, they were able to complete their work within the six-month schedule given them.

Mr Abraham Ossei Aidoo, Deputy Majority Leader, said the report showed that Parliament was now asserting itself in every area. Mr I.K. Adjei-Mensah Deputy Minority Leader expressed the hope that the report would be examined for appropriate action to be taken.