ASSEMBLIES LACK QUALIFIED PROCUREMENT OFFICERS (PAGE 13)

A Number of district assemblies in the Brong Ahafo Region do not have qualified procurement officers who are to oversee the legal procurement processes in the assemblies.
The Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, who made this known in Sunyani, noted that trained procurement officers could help streamline procedures regarding the day-to-day purchases and other transactions by adhering to the Procurement Act.
Addressing a day’s Regional Financial Management workshop, organised by the Ghana Audit Service, the Regional Minister, therefore, charged the appropriate authorities to ensure that all the assemblies were provided with procurement officers who could interpret the law properly.
The workshop was attended by accountants in the various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) and those from the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs), District Finance Officers, District Co-ordinating Directors and staff of the Ghana Audit Service.
The workshop was aimed at addressing findings of an audit conducted last year across the country by Messrs Ernst and Young Chartered Accountants to bring a third-party review to the handling of the various transactions underlying receipts and disbursements of the Consolidated Fund.
The audit focused on transactions related to the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing and selected departments under it, as well as 20 MMDAs drawn from each region in the country.
The workshop centred on budget preparation and reporting cycle, consolidated fund inflows, budget and public expenditure management systems, financial reporting formats, receipts and payments concerns, consolidated fund reporting issues, internal audit issues and internal controls.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo stressed the need for the assemblies to register all their fixed assets, so that at any given time they could account for them without any difficulty, pointing out that the accurate preparation of trial balances of the assemblies would also provide the basis for their income and expenditure accounts.
According to the minister, the startling revelations at the ongoing Ghana@50 probe in Accra should be an eye-opener to all those in positions of trust, since one day they would be called to account for their stewardship.
He said following what was currently going on at the probe, it was not far-fetched to conclude that, “Some of the politicians did not listen to the bureaucrats during the Ghana@50 celebration, regarding procurement and other activities, adding, “Politicians should listen to the bureaucrats to learn a lot from them as to what to do next.”
In his welcoming address, the Brong Ahafo Regional Auditor, Mr Charles Segre, noted that the findings of the wide-scope audit required additional attention alongside the immediate requirement to submit findings for the attention of Parliament.
According to him, the objectives of the audit were to provide an independent opinion on the financial statements and to review and report on the effectiveness of the system of internal controls of the audited organisations.
He pointed out that recommendations had been made, where appropriate, on how systems could be improved, but the key task was to examine whether existing systems were being followed and where necessary, “We have made practical recommendations on how enforcement could be tightened.”
Mr Segre noted that financial management in government agencies was largely decentralised, and that, in order to keep the extent of the work within reasonable limits and to ensure a timely completion, “We were required within each of the organisations to undertake a detailed audit of a proportion of the spending units or budget management centres.”