The Director of Audit at the Ghana Audit Service, Hannah Mensah, has emphasized that accounting for public funds is not sufficient to demonstrate the performance of government institutions and projects. Speaking at a media training in Accra on September 28, she stressed the need to examine whether expenditure translates into expected results. This approach is crucial in performance auditing, which seeks to establish how well resources have been converted into intended results.
Ms Mensah used a hypothetical example of a government institution spending 100 million on a project, highlighting that an institution may account for every amount spent without delivering the expected outcomes. She explained that spending is different from project deliverables, and that accounting for funds does not necessarily mean that everyone's needs have been met. This distinction is at the heart of performance auditing, which examines not only resources used but also systems, processes, and activities.
Performance auditing is guided by the principles of economy, efficiency, and effectiveness, which help auditors determine whether resources were acquired and used appropriately, whether they achieved intended objectives, and whether the most was made from them. Ms Mensah explained that performance can be assessed through an input-output relationship, where financial, human, and material resources serve as inputs that produce outputs and ultimately achieve intended outcomes.
The media training was organized by the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) in partnership with the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) and Transparency International-Ghana, with support from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. The training focused on the Auditor-General's Performance Audit Report on the operations of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA). Ms Mensah took participants through the principles and approach to performance auditing.
Ms Mensah cautioned against equating the completion of an activity with the achievement of an intended outcome. She used the example of staff assigned to monitor filling stations, explaining that the completion of the monitoring exercise is only an output, and that it is necessary to establish whether the monitoring achieved its purpose. She encouraged journalists to ask why particular activities were undertaken and whether they produced expected results.
Journalists were urged to approach audit reports holistically, taking into consideration all aspects of an issue before drawing conclusions. Ms Mensah stressed that simply reporting the difference between expected and actual figures does not constitute a complete finding. Auditors must examine the reasons for the gap and apply root cause analysis to understand the different factors surrounding an issue.
The Ghana Audit Service's emphasis on performance auditing is crucial in ensuring that public resources are used effectively and efficiently. By examining the principles of economy, efficiency, and effectiveness, auditors can provide valuable insights into the performance of government institutions and projects. This approach can help promote transparency and accountability in the use of public funds.
Key points
- Journalists should look beyond expenditure figures when assessing government performance.
- Performance auditing examines not only resources used but also systems, processes, and activities.
- The principles of economy, efficiency, and effectiveness guide performance auditing.
