Compliance to Public Financial Management Act --MoF to name and shame defaulting MDAs
The Ministry of Finance in collaboration with the Internal Audit Agency has commenced a ‘name and shame’ initiative which seek to publish the names of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) who fail to comply with the accountability requirements in the Public Financial Management Act, 2017 (ACT 921) in the media.
This forms part of measures to enforce compliance with the law and ensure effective accountability by public institutions.
This was announced by a Deputy Minister of Finance, Dr John Kumah at the 2022 Annual Internal Audit Conference.
He said it was the expectation of the Ministry that Cabinet and Parliament would respectively consider and give legal effect to this initiative in due time.
“Let me assure you all that the Minister for Finance is very committed to this and will work to achieve this and ensure the effective restructuring of the Internal Audit Agency,” he stated.
Restructuring of Audit Agency
He said the restructuring would strengthen the Internal Audit Agency and align internal audit activities to support national financial priorities and strategies as well as macroeconomic stability in accordance with the national vision to prevent corruption and ensure efficiency in the use of public funds.
He said this would help the agency to effectively play its role in the ongoing Public Financial Management reforms by improving efficiency, accountability and supporting the fiscal consolidation efforts of the Government, whilst enhancing the independence and objectivity of public sector internal auditors in the discharge of their duties.
“Let me use this opportunity to assure the public that government will continue to support the work of auditors in their Assurance services they offer, including the work of the Auditor General in the publication of his reports on the audit of public funds,” he stated.
Reduction in irregularities
The Deputy Finance Minister also pointed out that in the recent report of the Auditor General for 2021, the total value of irregularities reported was GH¢1.08 billion, down from the GH¢2.05 billion reported in 2020.
He said this indicates a GH¢972.2 million (representing 47.35 per cent) reduction in the value of previously reported infractions and a cumulative average reduction in the value of infractions from GH¢5.19 billion in 2018 to GH¢1.08 billion in 2021, representing 79.19 per cent reduction.
“This shows a declining trend in the financial impact of the reported irregularities from 2018 to 2021,” he stated.
He said the decline was a result of continuous efforts by the government to implement measures to address the root causes underlying the irregularities reported by the Auditor General.
“Despite the somewhat systemic nature of some of these root causes and therefore requiring some time for the interventions of government to yield the needed results, the measures initiated by government have contributed significantly to the gradual improvement in the accountability measures in MDAs.
“These measures have over the period led to the gradual decline in the value of infractions reported in the Auditor-General’s report from 2017 to 2021,” he noted.