New law to provide more powers to Auditor General to ensure stringent state tender procedures
The Government cannot be complacent with the tender procedure adopted by the state sector and measures have to be taken to wipe out financial and accounting frauds in government institutions to ensure people and investors receive correct information on fnancial matters, according to President Maithripala Sirisena.
Speaking as Chief Guest at the CMA International Global Management Accounting Summit in Colombo this week, he said that after the August Parliamentary election a new Act governing the role and responsibilities of the Auditor General’s Department will be enacted.
The new act will enable the government to eradicate bribery and corrup- tion rampant in the present tender procedure. Priority will be given to good governance following the parliamentary elections, he said.
He said accountants have a vital role to play as transparency in financial matters go hand in hand with good governance and accountability. But as a minister with long years of service there were bitter experiences where some accountants were concerned. Due to corruption perpetrated by politicians, state officers too are involved in such dealings, directly or indirectly. But if auditors and accountants of departments and those in the Auditor General’s Department do their job correctly there was no room for such frauds to take place.
Referring to state institutions, he said within the frame work of the Sri Lanka Constitution, the Secretaries of Ministries are empowered to act as its chief financial officers. Although there were competent secretaries there were instances where businessmen were also appointed in the past in this role. He said if internal auditors of departments fulfilled their role correctly it would facilitate the work of the Auditor General to do his job. But his experience was that internal auditors and accountants were weak and slack in their job that leads to other serious problems. The president warmly welcomed the guests who arrived from countries like the US, UK, Singapore, Malaysia and South Africa and others as well. He also welcomed the High Commissioner for Canada, Shelly Whiting and the President International Federation of Accountants, Olivia Kirtley for putting Sri Lanka on the global map by her visit. He also paid a tribute to Prof. Lakshman R Wattawala who once served as the Chairman of the People’s Bank and the Board of Investment.
Prof. Watawala, President - CMA Global Management Accounting Summit, said the global Management Accounting Summit is hosted by CMA Sri Lanka and co- hosted by the Institute of Management Accountants of the US, the management accounting bodies of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and supported by the International Federation of Accountants, International Integrated Reporting Council and the Global Reporting initiative which has given strength and meaning to the topic “Business Resilience through Integrated Reporting”. Integrated reporting is a concise communication about how an organisation’s strategy, governance, performance and prospects in the context of its external environment lead to the creation of value in the short, medium and long term.
He said coinciding with the Global Summit “we have organised the “CMA Excellence in Integrated Reporting Awards 2015” in order to promote Sri Lankan companies and state institutions to undertake integrated reporting which will be beneficial to investors and stakeholders. “I wish to thank all companies and institutions participating in the Integrated Reporting Awards and wish to congratulate the award winners. We as a professional accounting body wish to promote and uphold key objectives of the government in maintaining good governance in all spheres of activity maintaining accountability, preventing waste and corruption and implementing cost and management controls,” he said.