KPMG wards off pressure to speed up pink sheets auditing

Senior Partner at the accounting firm KPMG, Joseph Winful, has maintained that his outfit is not under pressure to satisfy the court’s demand.

However, he has given indication that the firm will meet the deadline set by the Supreme Court.

He told Joy News, the firm is very much aware of the “sensitive and critical” nature of the task at hand, but promised “we will be able to meet those challenges”.

Following controversy over the number of pink sheets filed by the petitioners in the ongoing election petition hearing at the Supreme Court, KPMG was contracted by the court to audit the pink sheets in the custody of the court’s registry. It will also audit those given to the president of the bench as a control measure.

Justice William Atuguba, President of the panel of judges, on Thursday, said the accounting firm has requested about “one week and some days” to submit its report. He, therefore, adjourned sitting to 24th of June.

Joseph Winful said in order to cut down on the time they would need to finish the auditing, more hands have been assigned to the task.

But the firm has cautioned it would not succumb to any pressure that might impede its work.

“We do not allow such pressures or any pressure whatsoever to hamper our work. We know what we are supposed to do, we know that we should apply a lot of diligent, we know that we have to be very accurate, we know that we have to adhere to the laid down principles and procedures that we have agreed with all parties concerned.

“We know all that, so definitely, we are not going to allow any pressure to distort our work,” Joseph Winful emphasised.

Nevertheless, he reiterated that everything would be done to meet the “actual limit” they have set for themselves with the assurance that “it is going to be well done”.

Meanwhile, spokesperson for petitioners in the case, Buabeng Asamoah has argued that the auditing will come to a naught so far as the substantive case is concerned. But Abraham Amaliba who speaks for the first and third respondents is confident it may reduce the number of votes the petitioners are praying the court to annul.