Audit Service gets €4.6m support from EU

Accra, Jan. 21, GNA - The Ghana Audit Service is to receive 4.6 million euros from the European Union (EU), to support a technical project to enhance its efficiency, accountability and transparency in public financial administration and management.

A EU delegation led by Ms Dominique Dellivour, Acting Director for Europe Aid, announced this on Friday during a courtesy call on the Auditor General to ascertain achievements under the first phase of the project, which began in 1999 with the maiden support of 5.8 million euros.

Ms Dellivour said accountability and probity must be kept as the core objective of the project.

She said the essence of the technical assistance, which came in the form of human resource development and institutional enhancement was to make Ghana a model of best practice in auditing to assist in efforts to introduce similar projects in other countries in Africa.

Ms Dellivour said the promotion of reforms in the Audit Service and other related institutions should be a major priority component of the project because they were critical to accountability and probity. Mr Edward Dua Agyeman, the Auditor General said the first phase of the project covered the updating of financial auditing methodologies to meet recognised international auditing standards, training of staff, and the introduction of performance auditing.

He said the project also modernised the management and administration of the Service, through the introduction of accounting and human resource system to facilitate self-accounting.

Mr Agyeman said the new project would help the Service to improve its budgetary processes and to be able to defend them in Parliament. It would also help the Service to keep abreast with the Financial Administration Act, Internal Audit Agency Act and the Public Procurement Act.