Koforidua, July 3, GNA - By January 2010, payrolls of all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), will be run by the Controller and Accountant General's Department (CAGD), Mr Raphael Kwesi Tuffour, Controller and Accountant General (CAG) has said. Mr Tuffour who said this while welcoming Staff of the Department to a four-day Delegates Conference in Koforidua on Thursday, said the CAGD had so far received co-operation from most agencies which were not on Government payroll.

He thanked those organizations for their efforts and urged the remaining ones to speed up with their returns. Mr Tuffour appealed to the Minister of Finance to help the Department create a unit whose responsibility would be to conduct head counts all year round. He said that would enable them to efficiently protect public funds in a manner that will ensure that Government payroll was rid of ghost names, and also ensure a smooth transfer of names from payroll to pensions.

Mr Tuffour reminded the accountants of the significant role they play in government machinery, and urged them to rededicate themselves to the discharge of their duties. He told them that any negative or unprofessional conduct on their part would not only bring the profession into disrepute but affect the country's economic development.

Mr Tuffour appealed to government to support them with logistics to enable them discharge their duties to expectation. He said payroll administration and procurement of Value books were crucial areas that need to be tackled efficiently, adding that expenditure on those items was national in character and had no budget lines.

"They end up virtually absorbing the entire budget of the department. We therefore request for separate budget line for them". Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, Eastern Regional Minister, who chaired the function, urged the accounting personnel to ensure transparency and accountability in whatever they do.

He told them that the whole finances of the country are entrusted in their care and they must live up to expectation. Mr Ofosu-Ampofo reminded them of the crucial role they were expected to play now that oil revenue would be "flowing soon". He appealed to the department to spend a little of its resources to update the professional competence of its staff to enable them to prove equal to the task. The conference is on the theme "Accountability in the Public Service-The Role of the Accountant".