The Audit Service has dismissed suggestions of tarnishing the image of the University of Ghana (UG), insisting that it delivered a professional assessment of the books of Ghana’s premier tertiary institution, cited for overstating employee compensation by GH¢59.2 million.
The response from the Audit Service, mandated by law to audit public institutions, therefore, upholds a news article published by MyJoyOnline from the same report, which did not go down well with the University of Ghana Chapter of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG-UG), despite clarifications by UG’s acting Deputy Internal Auditor, Prof. Samuel Simpson, captured in subsequent publications.
In a detailed press release on Friday, May 23, the Ghana Audit Service addressed concerns raised by UTAG-UG.
At a press conference on Tuesday, May 20, the Secretary of the University of Ghana Chapter of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG-UG), Dr Jerry Joe Harrison, faulted the Auditor-General over claims of irregularities in a recent payroll audit report.
The report had indicated that the university overstated employee compensation by GH¢59.2 million, an assertion that the university management had debunked.
According to Dr Harrison, the initial audit report was not shared with them for clarification and/or comments, if any, before the report was made public.
“This is a serious breach of the ethical standards required for this profession. For such a basic ethical ethos to be ignored clearly smacks of incompetence and/or mischief,” he stated, adding, “We therefore call for the Auditor-General to resign honourably, or we will petition the President for his removal.”
Additionally, he requested punishment for all individuals involved in the audit in accordance with the ethics of the profession.
“We also want to state that the situation where auditing has been used as a tool to disallow payments of legitimate claims from sub-vented institutions must stop with immediate effect,” he added.
However, the Audit Service has pointed out that, “Throughout the process, the audit team engaged the entity concerned, raising any deviations with them for their response before the final certificate was signed. It is therefore erroneous for UTAG-UG to assume otherwise.”
[embedded content]The Audit Service insisted that the publication and subsequent statements by UTAG-UG misrepresented the contents of a recent Special Audit Report titled “Recoveries Made from Disallowed Expenditure in the Auditor-General’s Reports from 2020–2023 and Payroll Savings as at 31st December 2024.”
“Our audits are conducted in accordance with internationally recognised standards, including the International Standards for Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAIs), and applicable laws such as the 1992 Constitution, the Public Financial Management Act (2016), and the Audit Service Act (2000).” the Audit Service maintained.
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