Institute of Accountancy Training launches celebration

Accra, June 30, GNA - The Institute of Accountancy Training on Monday launched its annual week celebrations with a call on the public sector to ensure an effective and a more harmonized service delivery. "The public sector operates wherever a government exists and there must be an incessant drive towards bridging the expectation gap of general public service delivery," Mr. Theophilus Hanson, Principal, of the Institute, said.

This year's annual week lectures are under the theme: "Raising the Bar in Public Financial Management", which has been chosen to educate both students and the public on financial policies and management. Mr. Hanson expressed regret that in spite of the rigorous public sector reforms all over the world, the bar for public sector performance was still low.

"The bar representing public and stakeholders' expectation stands much higher than mere efficiency," he said. Mr Eric Appiah, Director, Benchmarking, Monitoring and Evaluation, Public Procurement Authority, who discussed the topic; "The New Procurement Management; A Recipe for Organisational Performance", urged students to take interest in the new Procurement Act to improve their knowledge on the subject. He said the Authority did not undertake procurement on behalf of any entity.

Mr Appiah said the Act was not a recipe for delay, adding that, proper planning and budgeting were important to get the needed approval, stressing; "All procurement should be done in line with (the) Act." He said strict adherence to the Act would ensure good corporate governance, definite structures and set of controls.