Audit Service office complex inaugurated in Dodowa

An office complex for the Audit Service has been inaugurated at Dodowa in the Shai-Osudoku District in the Greater Accra Region.

The facility was constructed with support from the German government, through its development bank, KfW. It is expected to house the district office of the service to create a conducive environment for the audit of public institutions, promote accountability and protect the public purse.

The edifice is part of a new project made up of the construction of three regional and 16 district office complexes in the country at a cost of €13 million.

While the regional office is a three-story multipurpose structure, the district office is a single-storey facility with installed solar panels, standby generators and boreholes to ensure efficiency.

It brings to an end the era where the Audit Service operated from the premises of its clients, such as regional coordinating council, district assembly and post offices, which compromised the service’s independence.

Additional funds

The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Daniel Nii Kwartei Titus-Glover, who represented Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia at the inauguration of the projects on November 20, stated that the German government had committed an additional €11.5 million to construct new regional and district offices for the service in the six new regions of the country.

“The German Government, during inter-governmental negotiation in 2020, committed additional funds to the project to enable the Audit Service to construct six regional and district offices for the newly created regions, which are the Oti, Savanah, North East, Western North, Bone East and Ahafo regions.

“I am also reliably informed that regional offices in Koforidua, Cape Coast, Ho and a district office at Offinso have been inaugurated,” he said.

Public institutions

The minister stated that the government was committed to doing everything possible to strengthen public institutions to become viable by protecting the public purse.

He said these projects would help strengthen the regional and district infrastructure of the Audit Service, thereby enhancing the execution of its constitutional mandate of promoting good governance, transparency and accountability in the country’s public financial management system.

He said to help protect the public purse, the current government, since taking office in 2017, had ensured that the office of the Auditor General received its fair share of the budgetary allocation.

He added that the release of funds to the Audit Service had enabled it to secure funds to complete projects abandoned by the previous government since 2012, across the country.

Government efforts

The Auditor General, Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu, said efforts made by the government to enhance the independence and capacity of the Audit Service continued to yield positive outcomes.

“I wish to reiterate that until recently, most of our officers were housed by auditees, thereby raising issues of impairment of our independence. We are, therefore, grateful to the government for its unwavering support and commitment to the cause of accountability institutions such as ours.

“Your Excellency, your leadership and vision have been very instrumental in enabling us to build this and many other state-of-the-art facilities across the country, which will go a long way to guarantee the independence of our officers,” he said.

Shai-Osudoku

The Chief Executive of the Shai-Osudoku District Assembly, Fred Offei, stated that the new facility represents progress, efficiency and improved service delivery in the development of the district.

He said the project was a testament to the government’s commitment to decentralisation and good governance, by bringing service closer to the people.

“We are not only enhancing accessibility with the project but also ensuring that all citizens benefit from government programmes and policies,” he added.