There are indications that, very soon there shall be some massive postings and transfers of staff at the Audit Service. This is to ensure a proper staff mix at all levels to enable the Service achieve its set objectives as this will avoid the situation where “familiarity breeds contempt”.

This was disclosed by the Acting Auditor-General of Audit Service, Mr. Richard Quartey, in his first ever meeting with the Regional-Auditors since he took office in Accra to brief them on recent developments in the Audit Service and brainstorm on the way forward.

Mr. Quartey expressed concern at the late submission of some reports by the officers and stressed that this affects the timely delivery of the Auditor-General’s report to Parliament. He warned that his office will henceforth not tolerate any of such laxity. The Acting Auditor-General therefore appealed to the Regional Auditors to work as a team to enable the Service achieve its mandate in the Constitution. He stated that, “all must cooperate to ensure that the Audit Service meets the statutory deadlines for submitting its report to Parliament”.

The meeting also created an opportunity for the new Acting Auditor-General to interact with his representatives in the regions to acquaint himself with the challenges they face to enable him chart the way forward.

Earlier, Mr. Richard Quartey had met with the Deputy Auditors General and Assistant Auditor-Generals who head the various units where it was agreed that a lot of work has to be done to get the statutory reports to Parliament by June 2009. He lamented on the quality of some of the reports received from the regions and tasked the officers to be more productive on the job.

The Acting Auditor-General further stated, “You should make it a point to train junior staff to ensure their work conforms to international auditing standards and practices”. He declared that officers must exercise extreme supervisory roles and hold in high esteem the ethics and code of conduct of the Audit Service.

In their response, the Regional Auditors bemoaned the lack of co-operation by some government institutions resulting in the late submission of reports to the Auditor-General.

They therefore appealed to the Acting Auditor-General to use his office to appeal to the Sector Ministers to ensure that MDA’s, MMDA’s and all government agencies in the various regions are directed to collaborate effectively with the Regional Auditors to ensure that they submit their financial statements on time for audit.