The Vice President, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has disclosed that government has allocated $1.5 million to the Audit Service for the automation of audit processes. In addition, $500,000 has been voted under the ongoing Public Financial Management Reforms Project (PFMRP) to build the capacity of staff in the use of computer aided tools to improve performance.

The Vice President made this disclosure at the 8th Audit Service Annual Accountability Lectures and Launch of the 2017 Financial Year Audits in Accra. The lectures was on the theme “Protecting the Public Purse-Our Commitment towards Ghana’s Development Agenda”.

He said all government financial systems have either been automated or in the process of being automated, and the Service cannot be left out. This is because the audit of clients’ systems can only be effective if the auditor is able to examine electronically the operations of these automated platforms. He assured management of the Service that budgetary allocations would be released in time to enable the Service deliver on its mandate timeously.

H. E. Alhaji Dr. Bawumia appealed to the Auditor-General to closely work with the Office of the Special Prosecutor to help fight corruption. He also indicated government’s intention to ensure that the Right to Information (RTI) bill was passed into law by the end of 2018.

Welcoming participants, the Chairman of the Audit Service Board, Prof. Edward Dua Agyeman, said the Service will help build the capacity of internal auditors to make them more efficient and to minimize the incidence of financial infractions in the public sector.