Accountant General’s Dept to introduce electronic record keeping

Mr Tufuor ended his four-year tenure of service as the Controller and Accountant General this year after serving from 2009. He also served as Controller and Accountant General from 1996 to 2000.

He blamed heads of government institutions for poor record management, saying that “sometimes you visit public offices and important documents are scattered on the floor”.

Mr Tufuor said many heads of government institutions did not appreciate the importance of records management until they needed to retrieve records for urgent purposes.

He said since 1992 there had not been any proper record keeping by most institutions, and explained that such a development accounted for the difficulty they faced in retrieving records for submission to the Commission on Judgement Debt.

 “There is poor record keeping at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, the Attorney General’s Department, and the Controller and Accountant General’s Department pertaining to judgement debts and other relevant transactions which were not readily obtainable to help the work of the Commission on Judgement Debt,” he said.

Mr Tufuor also used the occasion to advise public servants against blaming the department solely for problems associated with the payment of salaries of workers.

He advised members of staff not to put pressure on management of the department for transfers to Accra, adding that “these pressures are destroying the smooth running of the institution”.

Mr Tufuor warned against backbiting and cronyism, adding that “let’s talk about the right things otherwise we are destroying ourselves”.

The incoming Controller and Accountant General, Ms Grace Francisca Addo, commended Mr Tufuor for his distinguished service, saying “he has brought a lot of reforms during his time”

“We have come so far. He (Tufuor) helped us to develop the system. When history is being recorded his name will be bold,” she said.

Story by Timothy Gobah