Parliament to investigate alleged action of Auditor-General

The Speaker, Mr Peter Ala Adjetey directed that an alleged action of the Auditor-General in appointing a firm to audit the Office of the Auditor-General should be referred to the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament.

The directive followed a statement Mr Edward Doe Adjaho, Minority Chief Whip, made to the effect that Parliament has not appointed any Auditor to do that job.

"To the best of my knowledge, Parliament has not appointed any firm of Chartered Accountants to audit the Office of the Auditor-General".

He said it is the duty of Parliament to appoint an Auditor to audit the Auditor-General, saying that has yet to be done.

Mr Adjaho quoted Article 187(15) of the Constitution, which states: "The accounts of the Office of the Auditor General shall be audited and reported upon by an Auditor appointed by Parliament."

He said there was a publication in an Accra Daily on June 4, "that the Acting Auditor-General, Mr Edward Dua Agyeman wrote to his predecessor to send records to his office for auditing by a firm of Chartered Accountants appointed by Parliament as a Constitutional requirement".

He said the publication also indicated that United Nations Imprest Account was also being audited.

Mr Adjaho said according to UN regulations no body has the authority "to conclude arrangements for audit by national authorities without prior approval of the competent legislative bodies".

He asked the House to "condemn the purported unconstitutional auditing of the said accounts using Parliament as a cover".

He urged Parliament to appoint auditors now that the time has come to audit the Office of the Auditor-General.

Mr Victor Gbeho, Ind-Anlo, quoted several UN regulations to support Mr Adjaho's statement.

Papa Owusu-Ankomah, the Deputy Majority Leader, in reply to the request said Parliament could not stand on a mere newspaper publication to condemn an action on which it is not well informed about.

He suggested that the matter should be referred to the Public Accounts Committee for investigation and report.