Workshop for Commonwealth public sector auditors opens

Accra, Feb. 18, GNA- Public sector auditors from 10 Commonwealth countries on Monday began a 10-day meeting in Accra, to share experiences on best practices to improve accountability and performance of the public sector audit service in their respective countries. The Commonwealth Thematic Fellowship Programme organized by the Internal Audit Agency (IAA) and sponsored by the Commonwealth Secretariat was intended to build partnership through an exchange programme between public sector auditors in the participating countries. Participants were drawn from Ghana, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tanzania, Malawi, Malaysia, Mauritius, Botswana, Zambia and Sierra Leone.

In an address read on his behalf, the Chief of Staff and Minister of Presidential Affairs, Mr Kojo Mpiani, said he believed the commonwealth countries had a lot in common and this approach to capacity development would accelerate the process of adding value to public financial management of the various countries. He said since the beginning of the new millennium, Ghana had embarked on an ambitious programme to reform its public financial management systems, which had resulted in reforms in the area of internal auditing in the public sector. Mr Mpiani noted that Ghana had made significant progress by providing the appropriate legal framework and human resources in ensuring that the internal audit supports government's programmes towards accountability and service delivery. Mr Patrick Nomo, Director General of Internal Audit Agency, said Ghana had so much experience to share with sister commonwealth countries.