The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Freddie Blay, has asked agencies set up to ensure efficient public sector financial management to corroborate their efforts to enable the country win the war against fraud. He acknowledged that public sector fraud had become sophisticated, and its detection was also complicated, adding that "the more diligent auditors are in their work, the more perpetrators of such acts employ new tactics in their trade". Speaking at the first stakeholders forum organised by the Auditor-General (AG), he said the Districts Assembly Common Fund had been raised from five per cent to 7.5 per cent, with the aim of strengthening those institutions for good governance. He said, "Audit is an important endeavour, not only for Parliament but for every tax payer, because it is only through auditing that we can be assured that the taxes are used to achieve our hopes and aspirations". "It is, therefore, expected that this brainstorming session would strengthen this collaboration and also devise new mechanisms to advance the cause of their respective jobs," he noted. Mr Blay appealed to the AG to make reports on district assemblies, traditional councils and the District Assembly Common Fund public, adding that reports from the ministries, departments and agencies (MDA) for 2006 would be submitted by the end of the month. He later commended the Public Accounts Committee for opening its proceedings to the public. The Chairperson of the Audit Service Board, Ms Aurore Lokko, said in her address that it had been established elsewhere in the world that where Audit Services were allowed the independence to undertake modern varieties of audit, and audit reports promptly acted upon by the executive arm of the government, they generated the confidence of the citizens and other stakeholders in the financial management systems of governance. They also reduced corruption and related malpractices and raised the profile of counttries in the international community, leading to increased investment inflows into such countries, she added. She said some key issues which could be considered to be relevant to the stakeholder and audit service relations included follow ups raised in the reports of the AG by the media and pushing for their implementation. Mrs Lokko added that academic and research institutions could organise studies and surveys into the structure, capacity, functions and operations of the Audit Service to determine consistency and compliance with constitutional and statutory requirements and best practices from which the service could learn and improve upon its performance. A research fellow at the Centre for Policy Analysis, Dr S. Nii-Noi Ashong, explained that audited reports must not only identify weaknesses, instances of fraud, misapplication of funds and negligence, but must also contain recommendations on what actions must be undertaken by government officials to correct reported deficiencies and gaps. He said the growing interests of the public in the work of the AG had demonstrated the important contribution the AG made in helping the nation to spend wisely through expenditure surveillance. The Auditor-General, Mr Edward Dua Agyeman, pointed out some challenges of the Ghana Audit Service as staffing and logistics constraints, and said performance or value for money audit was still developing, and environmental and forensic audits had not yet been introduced. Others are procurement audit as required under the Public Procurement Act 2003 is yet to be mainstreamed and funding from development partners which included a provision for audit did not reach the Audit Service. Source: Daily Graphic