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The Upper East Regional Auditor of the Ghana Audit Service, Mr. Seidu Ahmed Kyei, has reminded all public sector organizations and institutions to submit the annual financial statements for the previous year to the Comptroller and Accountant General and the Departments of the Auditor General before February 28, 2021.
He explained that the 12 copies of the annual financial statement must be signed and presented to the auditor general and the controller, but not as a draft of the financial statement.
Mr. Ahmed Kyei regretted that draft financial statements are submitted more frequently with many errors that invariably affect the timely submission of the Auditor General’s reports to Parliament.
The Regional Auditor gave this reminder at the 2020 national workshop of the Association of Education Accountants (AEA) held in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region.
He said that section 80 of the Public Finance Management Act of 2016 (Law 921) requires that before February 25 of each year, public sector organizations must present the annual financial statement of the previous year to the Auditor General and to the Comptroller and Accountant General, but most of them did not comply. .
Therefore, he took the occasion to appeal to all financial officials of public institutions throughout the country to take note and act accordingly.
In the opening speech of the Director General of the Ghana Education Service, Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, said that the type of attitude and commitment to the work determines whether the result will be a success or a failure. Therefore, he charged AEA to adopt the attitude of timely submission of financial confidentiality, to be meticulous and accurate, prudent and very observant in its daily duties.
He urges them to take the possibilities thinking approach to work and also to adopt a consultative problem solving process and work with management and colleagues.
“In order not to mock the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service in the Public Accounts committee, you would have to apply your competencies to influence its execution, therefore be wise to hone your skills and respond promptly to management audit letter ”, he emphasized.
The Acting National President of the AEA, Ambrose Yao Kwadzodza, urged members to ensure the effective implementation of the budget allocation to all policies and programs. “We are required to comply with all financial policies, procedures, requirements, laws and regulations,” he warned.
Referring to liability, Mr. Kwadzodza said that accountants should help senior spending officers to exercise effective control over the management of stores and ensure regular stock control, avoid obsolete items, ensure that products expired are not kept in the store and finally ensure that stock levels are within control limits.
He said that a Chief Spending Officer of a covered entity of a public corporation will be responsible for the institution’s assets under his care and will ensure that there are adequate control systems for the custody and administration of the assets.
The Regional Minister of the Upper East, in a speech read on her behalf by her Coordinating Director, Alhaji Mahamadu Assibi Azonko, noted that the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament and the Department of the Auditor General continue to identify poor accounting practices, internal control failures and poor financial decisions. as the main threat to financial management.
He explained again that such deficiencies found in the financial operations of most state institutions, such as the Ghana Education Service, create the way for some public officials, especially accountants, to apply and misappropriate funds and resources.
