The Audit Service had organised a two-day workshop for selected staff to undertake the 2019 audit of Technical Universities, Polytechnics, the Rural Enterprise Programme (RET) as well as Rural Technology Facility and Business Advisory Centres. The workshop was aimed at equipping the auditors with the requisite knowledge before undertaking these audits.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, a Deputy Auditor-General in charge of Commercial Audits Department, Mr. Johnson Asiedu Akuamoah urged the auditors to adhere to the professional code of conduct guiding their operations while ensuring quality review of the financial performance of these public institutions. Mr. Akuamoah asked the participants to support their audit findings with the appropriate laws and produce factual evidence to support any audit opinion.

On his part, a Deputy Auditor-General in charge of Educational Institutions Audits Department, Mr. Mohammed Zakaria Ali, appealed to the audit teams to work harmoniously in order to produce good and timely audit reports.

The Rural Enterprise Programme (REP) is part of government’s efforts to reduce poverty and improve the living conditions of the people in rural areas through the promotion of Micro and Small-Scale Enterprises (MSEs). It also seeks to upscale and mainstream the institutional systems within the district-based MSE support system.

The Government of Ghana secured funds from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD and the African Development Bank (AfDB) to finance the REP.

Facilitators from the IFAD, AfDB, REP and the Audit Service took the participants through the audit scope and objectives, mandate and working systems of the REP, Rural Technology Facilities and Business Advisory Centres. Other topics discussed included report writing, cash management, evidence gathering and validation of financial statements, as well as payroll, procurement and stores management.