Outgoing Accountant General warns against poor record-keeping

The immediate past Controller and Accountant General, Raphael Kwesi Tuffuor, has called on public and private institutions to be serious with record-keeping in other to prevent valuable documents from getting lost.

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

In a farewell speech to the staff at the Accra headquarters of the department, Mr. Tuffuor regretted how many offices had become unsightly with valuable records strewn on corridors or verandas, because the Public and Archives Department had no more space to accept such records.

Present at the function was the Chief Director of the Ministry of Finance, Major (rtd) Tara and heads of department of the CAGD.

Mr. Tuffuor, whose position has been taken by Grace Francisca Adzroe stressed the need for good record keeping, saying it was right and proper to sanction and punish anyone who tampers with public records or destroys them.

Touching on the challenges facing the CAGD, he brought out a number of issues, including that of staff combining work with school and using working hours for lectures, us piling up work on other colleagues not in school, with its attendant conflict on who should earn a promotion after the end of the study.

He suggested that, there should be a clear-cut plan of work for Controller and Accountant General and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to avoid an overlap of their functions, adding “concentrate on your policies and let the controller do the implementation.”

Mr. Tuffuor, who served the department from 1996-2001, and from 2009 till his retirement called for more efficiency into the public accounting system and early correction of payroll mistakes to avoid undue delays in the payment of public servants.

He cautioned the staff against gossiping and rumor mongering, and advised the staff to use dialogue to settle matters and have their desires met rather than destroying other colleagues to satisfy their ill-fated egos.

He challenged workers to work hard to justify the rise in their pay, adding, it was time a nursery was put up close by to enable nursing mothers to attend to their babies without interruption in their work.

The event was marked with scripture readings from the Bible, praises and worship and the invocation of Gods’ blessings and guidance in the life of the controller during his retirement, as well as the new controller.