Mr. Ebenezer Okletey Terlabi, Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, has said government was working together with the Ministry of Education to help improve skills of Accountants

He said this has become necessary due to the revelations emanating from the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament (PAC) and urged all accountants in the public sector to ensure that resources available to them were utilized for their maximum benefit of the state.

Mr. Terlabi said this at the opening of the 2012 national conference of the Association of Educational Accountants Ghana in Koforidua.

He said the drive towards a better Ghana could not be achieved if any sector was left behind and urged the accountants to ensure that every pesewa spent was accounted for in order to avoid any embarrassment from authorities when called to account for their stewardship.

He said clarity regarding standardized procedures of access, authorization and records of spending funds was important to ensure accountability, transparency and enhance their practices.

Mr. Terlabi said considering the theme for the conference: “The role of the educational accountants in a decentralized administration”, it was appropriate in the current stage of the nation development agenda adding that “accountants must execute their profession with high ethical principles and also work within the tenets of probity and accountability”.

He said the decentralization process being vigorously pursued by government needed the collaboration of all stakeholders and therefore commended the Association for choosing the theme.

“No person, group of persons or association can disassociate itself from the implementation of effective decentralization in Ghana” he maintained.

Mr. Lord Benjamin Bomi, National Chairman of the Association, said the theme of the conference was chosen to enable them deliberate on the thorny issue of decentralization.

He said in 1989, decentralization took effect with the passing of the Local Government Act, 207 which metamorphosed into act 462 in 1993, which was followed by the passing of Education Act 506 in 1995.

Mr. Bomi said whiles section four of the act cedes to Ghana Education Service (GES), the coordination function only, there were no linkages within the act that enhance the performance of this new role.

He said decentralization had not been worked out properly in some areas and urged authorities to ensure that the system flowed as expected.

The Eastern Regional Director of Education, Ms Adriana Kandilige, urged members of the Association to live by their motto- integrity and accountability.