The Audit Service has responded to allegations by the Minority Leader of Parliament, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, that the delay of the institution’s submission of the 2019 audit report to Parliament might be “deliberate for the primary purpose of avoiding further embarrassment to the Government…or intended to cover up malfeasance on the part of the Government because this year is an election year’’.
In a Press Statement released on Wednesday, September 30, 2020, the Service maintains that “the delay is solely due to the outbreak of the novel corona virus 2019 (Covid-19) that disrupted government business and social life”. The Service further explains that following the resumption of work after the easing of the lockdown, work again stalled because some staff contracted the virus and were asked to work from home which “culminated in further delays in the work due to technical and logistical challenges encountered by both auditors and clients (auditees)”.
The service added that on July 20, 2020, ‘the acting Auditor-General (Mr. Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu) submitted the “Report of the Auditor-General on the Consolidated Statements of the Foreign Exchange Receipts and Payments of the Bank of Ghana for the year ended 31st December 2019”. In this report, the acting Auditor-General “informed the Right Hon. Speaker of Parliament through the cover letter that reports covering other accounts would delay because of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the audit activities of the Service”.
