PNG commits to strengthening the Office of the Auditor General through SAI PMF Self-Assessment

Strengthening PNG AGO Project Team, from left: Benly Micah, Dallas Kila, Philip Nauga (Auditor-General) and To’oro Aveve (Team Leader).

With the aim of enhancing the quality of work done by the Papua New Guinea Auditor General’s Office (PNG AGO), the executive management of PNG AGO set up the Strengthening PNG AGO Project to carry out a performance assessment of the SAI using the recent version (January 2016) of the Supreme Audit Institution Performance Management Framework (SAI PMF) tool.  The SAI PMF is a global framework that enables SAIs to perform voluntary assessments of their performance against International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAIs) and other established international good practices for external public auditing. It is a universal tool which can be applied to all types of SAI regardless of governance structure, mandate, national context and development level.  

The Auditor General of PNG Mr Philip Nauga said “The project is not concerned with finding faults in the SAI, rather with identifying areas within the SAI that require improvement in order to assist the SAI achieve its mandated requirements.”

The SAI PMF Assessment is being conducted with the support of PASAI Secretariat and is a continuation of a week-long SWOT analysis conducted in August 2015 by Mrs Agnes Aruwafu, PASAI Director of Technical Support.  Following this the PNG AGO project team carried out the full SAI PMF assessment (endorsed version January 2016) for two weeks in March 2016 and gathered evidence to objectively assess each of the key domains of the PNG AGO.  Finally, during the week from 12-16 July 2016 the Strengthening PNG AGO Project Team worked tirelessly to analyse the scoring results and completed the overall report which was presented to the Auditor General’s representative on 16 July 2016.  The report was well received.

The PASAI Director of Technical support highly commends the dedication of the PNG AGO project team and their enthusiasm to embrace this initiative to strengthen the AGO and achieve the priorities of the Auditor General.  

The results of the SAI PMF Assessment is owned by the Auditor General who has advised that the assessment and the baseline data identified will be used to develop a strategic direction to achieve his vision of improving the capacity of his office to make a difference in the lives of citizens and audit for impact.

(L-R): Presentation of the SAI PMF Assessment Report by Project Team Leader Mr To’oro Aveve A/Manager – Training and Development, Mr Benly Micah Senior Technical Officer – Standards,  Ms Dallas Kila Senior Technical Officer – Monitoring presenting the report to Mr Gordon Kega , Acting Deputy Auditor General, Provincial & Local Level Government Audit Divisionand Executive Officerof the Auditor General Ms CatherineAdiunegiya

PASAI Secretariat welcomes new Systems Developer

The Secretariat welcomes its new Systems Developer, Mr Tu’amalie Paea this week.  Mr Paea is contracted by the Secretariat for four months to develop a Web Information System that will be an easy-to-use, centralized repository of information to record, analyze and store critical data regarding the activities of the Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions’ (PASAI) members. It will also store data on PASAI's activities to support implementation of its strategic plan and be an information hub for strategic, operational and periodic plans and reports.

Born in Neiafu Vava’u, Tonga, Mr Paea is a Senior Computer Programmer, Database/Web Designer, and Systems Developer. Tu’amalie has a Bachelor of Computer Science and Information Systems from the University of the South Pacific, and a Masters of Information Technology from the University of Queensland, Australia.

Tu’amalie’s systems development experience started with the Government of Tonga where he helped develop a Web Portal and a number of computer systems. He was also engaged by the Department of Climate Change as a TA National Consultant in March 2016. Tu’amalie has joined the Secretariat as an international consultant funded by the Asian Development Bank.

Assessment of the Tonga Office of the Auditor General

Capacity development of Pacific Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) continued with the assessment of the Tonga Office of the Auditor General (TOAG) conducted on 4-8 July 2016 using the INTOSAI SAI Performance Measurement Framework (SAI PMF).

The SAI PMF is a global framework that enables SAIs to perform voluntary assessments of their performance against International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAIs) and other established international good practices for external public auditing. It is a universal tool which can be applied to all types of SAI regardless of governance structure, mandate, national context and development level.  The development of the “lite” version of the SAI PMF and its use by smaller Pacific SAIs is in line with PASAI’s regional strategic priorities of helping Pacific SAIs to strengthen their independence, complete high quality audits on a timely basis and enhance their institutional capacity and capability.

The TOAG SAI PMF assessment was conducted by an internal assessment team from the TOAG and peer reviewed by the Tuvalu Audit Office (TAO) with support from PASAI. The TOAG team was co-ordinated by Mr Kelepi Makakaufaki while the peer review team included Ms. Claire Kelly (PASAI consultant), Mrs Sinaroseta Palamo-Iosefo, PASAI Director Practice Development, Mr. Eli Lopati (Auditor General - TAO) and Mrs Imase Kaunatu (TAO). The Auditor General of TOAG, Mr. Sefita Tangi, management and staff of the SAI provided great support to the assessment team during the week.