Building Capacity to Effectively Audit the Management of Public Assets

The Auditor-General’s Office of Papua New Guinea (PNG) together with the Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions (PASAI) hosted a workshop in Port Moresby from 21 to 25 November 2016 at the Lamana Hotel. The theme of the workshop, ‘Building Capacity to Effectively Audit the Management of Public Assets’, emphasised that the risks to Pacific Island Countries and Territories governments of poorly managed public assets / resources are significant and material. Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) play an important role to improve the management of public assets resources, which is critical for the ability of governments to deliver key services to its citizens. The PNG Auditor-General Mr Philip Nauga commented that “this workshop is relevant and important for our office because it aligns with the PNG Vision 2050 National Government plan to reduce corruption including the mismanagement and misuse of public assets and resources”. Such comments echo similar concepts from SAIs in the Pacific region.

The workshop covered a range of technical topics from the asset life cycle, the four main stages of asset management decisions, determining the feasibility of a performance audit on this topic, to linking audits to SDGs and National Development plans and strategic audit planning of asset management audits

The knowledge gained by participants from this workshop will help them to plan and carry out an audit on assets management, with value added recommendations to their respective government.

Twenty two representatives from 15 SAIs attended this week-long workshop - Papua New Guinea, American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia’s States of Chuuk, Pohnpei, Kosrae, and Yap, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Tuvalu. For the first time in PASAI programs, a representative from the African Organisation of English-speaking Supreme Audit Institutions (AFROSAI-E) attended and this was possible through PASAI’s Memorandum of Understanding with AFROSAI-E to share resources and knowledge. The regional workshop was developed and delivered by a team of highly experienced PASAI consultants from Kerry McGovern and Associates (Ms Kerry McGovern, Dr Penny Burns and Ms Michelle Maschmedt) all with extensive experience in public sector asset management and working in the Pacific Islands. The workshop was delivered using a blended learning approach which consisted of class room lectures, exercises and two study tours to major infrastructure public assets such as PNG National Airport Corporation and the PNG National Football Stadium. Both these study tours provided a practical implementation of the content taught during each of these days, to enhance their understanding. The feedback from participants was positive and they enjoyed the variety of teaching approaches.

The workshop ended with the presentation of certificates to participants by the PNG Auditor- General together with Mr Dylan Roux, First Secretary, Australian High Commission, Papua New Guinea.

PASAI commended the PNG Office of the Auditor-General for their excellent support and for making this workshop a great success including their world-class hospitality.

PASAI acknowledge the financial support of the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), and the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT).

Workshop participants

First Study Tour – National Airport Corporation, Day 2 of the workshop

Promoting better governance, accountability and transparency for Pohnpei State

The Pohnpei State Office of the Public Auditor (OPA) in partnership with the Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions (PASAI) hosted a five day workshop in Pohnpei from 21 – 25 November 2016 for Members of the Legislature, Audit Entities, Public Auditors of Federated State of Micronesia, Chief Executives of Local Government, and other stakeholders including media and civil society organizations, in Pohnpei. The workshop is in line with one of PASAI’s strategic priorities, “to advocate on behalf of its members to strengthen governance, transparency and accountability.”

Legislative committees play an important role in the scrutiny of audit reports and providing oversight over the use and management of public resources. The workshop was opened by the Vice Speaker of the Pohnpei State, the Honorable Nixom Soram, “who extended a warm welcome to members of the legislature, the Pohnpei State Public Auditor, Iso Ihlen Joseph, his staff, and the PASAI delegation for holding such a valuable workshop for its members”. Vice Speaker, Hon Nixom Soram in his opening address commented, “as legislators our role is to ensure monies are expended correctly, once they are expended, we must ensure they are accurately accounted for, if not, we turn to the auditors. That is why we need the help of auditors”. Members of Legislative Committees who attended the first two days also commented, “the workshop was informative and extremely useful for their roles as oversight committees, and as members of the legislature”.

The first two days of the workshop was the programme for members of the Legislature and was attended by 17 members. The topics covered included an overview about the role of PASAI, the status of accountability and transparency in the Pacific, the value and benefits of Supreme Audit Institutions or Offices of Public Auditors, public accountability framework of the Pohnpei State, its budget process, fraud awareness and the audit findings of OPA.

The final three days were for the second group comprising of Cabinet Members, staff of audit entities including finance and administration staff, the Public Auditor of Kosrae State and his staff, which started their session on Wednesday and attended by 27 participants. The Governor of Pohnpei State, the Honorable Marcelo K Peterson, welcomed the second group, and in his opening remarks, extended his gratitude to the Chair of PASAI, also the Public Auditor of Pohnpei, for selecting Pohnpei to host this workshop. He ended his opening remarks with a wise old saying, “in order to establish trust, it is first important that you be trustworthy.  This means you should be forthright with all your dealings”.

This workshop is the fourth Public Accounts Committee workshop PASAI has held in the Pacific, and it is the first time it has extended to a five day programme to include audit entities, government officers, local government and other stakeholders.

The workshop was facilitated from PASAI by Mr Eroni Vatuloka, PASAI Advocate, and Ms Aolele Su’a Aloese, Director of Advocacy, Engagement and Financing, and from the Pohnpei Office of the Public

Auditor, by Mrs Sophia H Pretrick, Investigative Advisor, Mrs Analin Co Estur, Audit Manager and Ms Christina Elnei, Budget Officer, Pohnpei State Governor’s Office.

PASAI would like to acknowledge the support of the Pohnpei State Office of the Public Auditor, for making this workshop a great success. We would also like to acknowledge the financial support of the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), and the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT).

Enclosure one: Image of Group 1, Members of the Legislature of Pohnpei State and staff of the Office of Public Auditor of Pohnpei State

Enclosure two: Image of Group 2, Cabinet Members, Chief Executives of Local Government, Directors of Government Departments, Finance and Administration staff, Public Auditors of FSM and staff.

Lara Taylor-Pearce Auditor-General of the Republic of Sierra Leone on transparency and accountability in public financial management

The Auditor General of Sierra Leone is an IDI Board member who was interviewed by Jamie Hitchen, a policy researcher at Africa Research Institute. The result is a thought provoking article on transparency and accountability in Public Financial Management. One of the best articles on the work of SAIs that I have read in many years, and worth 5 minutes of everyone’s time.

Available via the IDI website at http://www.idi.no/Artikkel.aspx?AId=1475&back=1&MId1=44 and directly at the Africa Research Institute: http://www.africaresearchinstitute.org/newsite/publications/lara-taylor-pearce-transparency-accountability-public-financial-management/

Auditor General of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Lara Taylor-Pearce

Supporting performance measurement of public auditors in the Pacific

The Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions (PASAI) and INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI) facilitated a regional workshop on implementing SAI Performance Measurement Framework (SAI PMF) in the Pacific SAIs, which commenced since February 2016. The workshop completes the first phase of this regional initiative. Thirteen auditors including three heads of SAIs, from seven SAIs namely Cook Islands, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Tuvalu participated in this one week workshop that was held from 7 – 11 November, 2016 at the Tanoa International Dateline Hotel, Nuku’alofa, Tonga.

Since February 2016, these SAIs were engaged in assessing their performance using the SAI PMF, a global framework that enables SAIs to assess their performance against International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAIs) and other established international good practices for external public auditing. While New Zealand and PNG conducted self-assessments, the other five SAIs were reviewed by their peers. The workshop focused on analysing the results of these assessments with specific guidance on compiling the SAI performance report.

The assessment results have identified areas where the SAIs require further improvements, the resources that would be needed to conduct audits effectively and fulfil their mandated responsibilities and highlighted the enabling factors for and constraints to effective performance. These results should assist auditors in maintaining high standard of audit deliverables and the SAIs as being a credible institutions that government and the public can rely on for independent assurance and advice on the effective utilisation of public resources.

Measuring performance is crucial to ensuring that an organisation such as the Supreme Audit Institution, who plays a vital role in strengthening good governance and accountability in the public sector, is carrying out its responsibilities effectively with professionalism and has the ability to respond to stakeholders’ expectations as well as emerging issues that impact the lives of citizens at large.

In delivering his keynote address, His Excellency Mr Andrew Ford, Australian High Commissioner to Tonga, expressed his hope for the workshop participants that “.. you are motivated to tackle any challenges identified and continue to innovate ways to ensure you remain relevant to the ever changing expectations of your stakeholders but also keep up with the rapid changes in technology which can impact the way you conduct audits”.

Camilla Fredriksen from the IDI confirms that the experiences from this first programme will be key input into further implementation of support to the use of SAI PMF and the results from SAI PMF assessments. The SAI PMF framework offers a holistic approach to measuring SAI Performance. To ensure the relevance of the tool, it was important to gain experience on its applicability across regions. The implementation of the PASAI programme shows that a regional coordinated approach to SAI PMF has helped create a network of assessors that can support each other through the implementation. This has allowed for a deeper understanding of own and others operation for the participants, and in turn this has led to identification of strengths and challenges across the SAIs in the region,

SAI PMF is aligned with one of PASAI’s strategic goals, to develop SAI’s performance measurement framework to assist with improving the delivery of SAI’s audit responsibilities. The second phase of this project will commence in January 2017 with performance assessment of five more SAIs in the northern Pacific. The workshop was facilitated by Mr Horacio Vieira, SAI PMF Advisor, Ms Camilla Fredriksen, Advisor from IDI, Ms Claire Kelly, PASAI Consultant, Mrs Sinaroseta Palamo-Iosefo, PASAI Director Practice Development and supported by Ms Chrissie Murray from Audit NZ.

This project is supported by Australian Department of Foreign Affairs, INTOSAI Donor Secretariat (IDS) in IDI and New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The workshop facilitators, advisors and participants