As part of their financial clearing initiatives, the ECOWAS Commission has opened up and presented its 2020 Consolidated Annual Audit Report of the Community Institutions with a pledge to sustain accountability and transparency to West African citizens.
Mrs Halima Ahmed who is the ECOWAS Commissioner for Finance made the presentation of the report at the ongoing joint-globalised meeting organized by the ECOWAS Parliament in Lome, Togo.
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The document was presented before the ECOWAS Joint Committee on Public Accounts, Administration, Finance and Budget, Macroeconomic Policies and Economic Research, Trade, Customs and Free Movement.
The joint-globalized meeting is with the theme “The modalities for the practical implementation of Articles 9 and 11 of the Supplementary Act of the Parliament in respect of the consideration of the Community Audit Reports’’.
The meeting aims at enabling Members (MPs) of the Joint Committee and other ECOWAS Institutions deliberate, better understand, and take ownership of the practical implementation of the said Articles.
Ahmed recounting the Commission’s successes said the Commission has updated its accounts, produced financial statements and got them audited using the International Public Accounting Standards (IPSAS).
This is also as she disclosed that from June, the Commission will publish the Financial Statements in line with the provisions of ECOWAS Financial Regulations which would be made available to the citizens regularly.
“When the current Management assumed duty in March 2018, we inherited a reform process that was driven largely by Finance Department.
“We also inherited some problems and challenges confronting the department, particularly the backlog of Financial Statements that were not prepared, dating back to four (4) and pending audits.
“Fast forward today, I am proud to report that we have updated our accounts, produced financial statements and got them audited using the International Public Accounting Standards (IPSAS),” she said.
The commissioner said that consolidated Financial Statements of all ECOWAS institutions had been produced.
“By next month, in June, we will publish the Financial Statements in line with the provisions of ECOWAS Financial Regulations.
“With that, the financial situation of ECOWAS will be regularly available to the citizens for their appreciation, thereby improving public accountability,” Ahmed said.
Ahmed said that under the current management, the implementation of the enhanced powers of the Parliament commenced with the consideration of the budget of the Community.
This she said is a significant step in the direction of public accountability as the opinions expressed on the budget now constitute a core part of the budget approval process by the Council of Ministers.
“We have revised the ECOWAS Protocol on Community Levy and replaced it with a Community Levy Act.
“The new Act has made some provision for the role of the ECOWAS Parliament in Community Levy mobilization.
“Therefore, little by little, we are seeing the enhancements in the role of Parliament in the community integration process. However, these changes also confer on the Parliamentarians more responsibility.
“Particularly the responsibility to devote more time and attention to fine details, to establish a connection between what we do at the regional level and the situation of their constituencies.
“It is, therefore, encouraging that this Joint Committee will be examining the specific provisions of the Supplementary Act of the Parliament on consideration of the Community Audit Reports,” she said.
Hon. Youssoufous Nouhoume, Chairman, Public Accounts Committee, ECOWAS Parliament said that ECOWAS has shown commitment to transparency and accountability with the implementation of new policies.
Nouhoume said that the desire for transparency in the management of ECOWAS Institutions had been accompanied by the recent creation of the Office of the Auditor-General as an Institution, independent of other Institutions.
“In the same vein, Parliament created in March 2020, during its inaugural session in Niamey, the Public Account Commission.
“With a view to supporting this dynamic of seeking transparency and publicly reporting on the efficiency of the entities of the ECOWAS.
“For sound and effective functioning of the Community and to ascertain that the benefit of public funds (Community Levy) being used, reach the lowest strata of society and to every individual, an annual audit is an indispensable tool.
“It helped secure accountability of the executive to the Parliament and towards the public in general.
“The legislature can exercise control over the executives and verify that the public resources (Community Levy) have been utilized responsibly, for the purpose intended.
“And funds raised through various sources like taxes reach government fully,” she said.