Hon. John Pandazopoulos, MP for Victoria speaking at La Trobe.
improper or ineffective administration. Initial and follow-up reports from
the PAC should be tabled in Parliament and Ministers required to respond within a specified time limit. Reports and replies should be debat- ed in Parliament, agreed the officials. They cited a need for the PAC to
be chaired by an opposition Member knowledgeable in the field, while auditing training should be provided to Members and support staff. The backlog of accounts should be audited and reviewed. As performance indicators, the officials said the new PAC should meet at least once a month, with a minimum of 80-per-cent atten- dance, and meeting minutes should be finalized within three days.A success rate of 80 per cent of PAC recommendations being accepted and implemented by the govern- ment within one year should be the target.To help achieve these improvements, six training courses for Members and staff were required annually, as was the provision of adequate computer resources.
Further advances for Ghana While great strides had been made by the Ghanaian PAC and Auditor General’s office, the Ghanaian dele- gation called for further funding so the review of accounts could be brought completely up to date and another public hearing could be held to follow up the success of the October 2007 public hearing. The Ghanaian PAC has an oper- ating system with a combination of strengths and weaknesses, reported its Members and officers. Of the 230 Members of the Parliament, 25 sit on the PAC, 15 from the majori- ty party and 10 from the minority. The PAC examines audit reports and makes recommendations to Parliament which, if Parliament passes them,must be implemented by the government. It operates on a non-partisan basis and produces rec- ommendations by consensus.The delegation set a target of getting 80 per cent of its recommendations passed by Parliament.
Since a 2003 amendment to the
Audit Service Act, each ministry and government agency must have an
implementation committee for rec- ommendations produced from an audit and they must report on actions taken within six months. This report goes to the President, the PAC and the Auditor General, who has a duty to chase those who don’t report on time. If an agency doesn’t comply, the PAC can recom- mend that the Ministry of Finance withhold its funding. However, the PAC is not well
resourced. One recent improvement has been the assignment of an Assistant Auditor-General to Parliament to assist the committee. A senior official from the Finance Ministry also assists.A recommenda- tion from a previous seminar that the PAC receive funding to hire expert assistance has not been granted.
The appointment procedure for
the Auditor General also raises some problems.While he or she is appointed by the President on the recommendation of eminent Ghanaians, there is no parliamentary role in the appointment even though the officer becomes an