CAGD holds farewell gathering for out-going boss

Raphael Kwesi Tufuor, the immediate past Controller and Auditor General, has called on public and private institutions to be serious with records keeping.

He said this would help in the efficient management of records for planning, reference and administrative purposes.

In a farewell speech to the headquarters staff of the Controller and Accountant General’s Department in Accra, Mr Tufuor regretted that many offices had become unsightly with valuable records strewn on corridors or verandas, because the Public Records and Archives Department had no more space to accept such records.

He underlined the need for good records keeping, saying it was right to sanction and punish anyone who tampered with such records or destroyed them.

He served in the capacity from 1996-2000, and from 2009 till his retirement. He gave thanks to God Almighty for being with him to successfully discharge his duties during his term of office.

He brought out a number of issues, including that of staff combining work with school and using working hours for lectures, thus pilling up work on colleagues not in school, with its attendant conflicts on who should earn promotion after the end of the study.

Mr Tufuor suggested a clear cut out plan of work for the Controller and Accountant General and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to avoid an overlap of their functions.

“Concentrate on your policies and let Controller do the implementation, “Mr Tufuor said.

He called for more efficiency in the public accounting system and early correction of payroll mistakes to avoid undue delays in the payment of public servants, adding that, the best public institutions could do was to go IT.

He spoke against gossiping and rumour mongering, and advised the staff to use dialogue to settle matters and have their desires met rather than destroying fellow colleagues to achieve their desires.

Workers must also work hard to justify the rise in their pay, he said, adding that, it was time a nursery was put up close by to enable nursing mothers to attend to their babies without much interruption in their work.

The event was paired with the Department’s celebration of Easter, with scripture readings from the Bible, praises and worship and the invocation of God’s blessing on the life of the Controller during his retirement, as well for the new Controller.