In-coming Auditor General Edward Akol (left) and his predecessor John Muwanga interact at Parliament on July 4, 2024. PHOTO/ DAVID LUBOWA
Congratulations on your appointment. And how did the vetting by Members of Parliament go?
The sort of issues that were discussed were issues that are known to us because people know that we have issues of corruption, we have issues of backlog and many other issues which are known to us. So their interest was to see how I can be able to sort out some of those issues. That is the sort of the discussion we had. So I believe it went on well.
How do you feel about the appointment?
I can say it comes with mixed feelings. It is exciting to be considered for this position. It is something that is a privilege and vote of confidence. It also comes with personal advancement in career.
The other side of it is that it dawns on you that there is quite a responsibility. And it entails giving assurance to the country that indeed the resources that have been appropriated by Parliament have been used in accordance with the laws and procedures. That is a huge task that I have to do on a yearly basis.
The only thing that makes me comfortable is that we have been at it for a long time. We have had a very good Auditor General who has indeed mentored us and in his way of work entailed team work. So we know exactly what we need to do.
You mention that you were mentored by your previous boss, what lessons did you pick?
He is a very professional gentleman. His integrity, as the whole country already knows, is unquestionable. And he is also dedicated to his work – until his last day in office, he has been working as if he had just entered. So that is what we take and we hope to build on that and also take the office to the next level.
What is the general projection of how you intend to run and handle the new office?
If you look at the Office of the Auditor General for the last 20 years and what it is now, it is a completely transformed office in all aspects. So the broader plan is to build on these aspects.
Harness benefits on IT and make sure that audits are better so that we improve on our products and make sure that we respond to the public needs. There is a lot of need for special audits and so we have to respond to them.
The most important are service delivery audits; those ones that focus on service delivery. I think that is very key in as far as going forward is concerned. [This is] because people want to see that programmes that have been put in place [by government] have actually been implemented because that is how the country runs.
So on our part we need to give the assurance that indeed, such is happening and the country is going forward. If there are issues in the implementation [and] utilisation of these funds, I think it is our duty to point out and make appropriate recommendations.
You come in at a time when President Museveni is very vocal on the fight against corruption. How do you intend to wrestle the vice?
Corruption is not something that somebody thinks about in one day. Corruption is syndicated activity. So what that requires is that we need to tailor the audits that we do towards those that can detect corrupt activities. Those audits are not achieved using the statutory audits; we need to emphasise more special audits on the areas that we have identified as risky.
We need to emphasise on forensic. Those are the audits that can bring out fraudulent issues. And by that, I do not mean that the other financial audits don’t. Financial audits are very good at bringing out red flags and giving the assurance that the recording of financial transactions [done by government institutions] is in accordance with frameworks.
But if you are to look at fraud, then you have to look at forensics and you look at special audits and that is the area we need to emphasise as far as fraud is concerned.
Parting shots to the team you will be working with?
I should appreciate the contribution of the outgoing Auditor General. I think he has contributed immensely to the development of audit in this country, but also to the assurance of this country in terms of utilisation of resources.
He has built a lot of capacity. And it is good that one of us is coming to replace him. The thing that we pledge to do is built on what he has done. We should be able to see an office built on what he has left in the next years to come.
