Comesa’s proposed auditing framework a change in governance of the bloc |19 March 2018

The auditors general of nineteen member states of the Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa), met in Lusaka, Zambia during the week March 6-9 in a conference to discuss and approve a framework and roadmap for the auditing of Comesa Secretariat and its affiliated agencies by the member states’ Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs).

The approval marks a significant paradigm shift in the governance framework of the organisation and it follows a decision taken by the Council of Ministers of Comesa member states in October 2017 where they expressed their dissatisfaction with the work of private audit firms which were auditing the accounts in previous years.

Seychelles was represented by the auditor general, Gamini Herath.

Comesa as it is has many organs or institutions which in the past have been audited separately. Mr Herath said now with this change, a combined financial statement will be prepared for these organs. And it will be a subject of the audit which is a big change including a change in the standards compared to how it was previously.

But the framework and roadmap first have to be approved by the Comesa Council of Ministers before implementation.

Comesa has a current membership of nineteen 19 sovereign states including Seychelles with a combined population of some 390 million people. Comesa delivers its mandate through its secretariat and a complex system of some ten agencies located in different member states.

“Last October’s decision taken by the Council and the new framework prepared, discussed and approved by the auditors general, marks a significant paradigm shift in the governance framework of the organisation. The discussions centered on technical aspects of the new audit mandate and its delivery in a timely and satisfactory manner in keeping with the principles of value for money for the stakeholders,” said Mr Herath.

After much deliberation, he said, the auditors general came up with a model called ‘COMESA Board of External Auditors’ (COBEA) to undertake the future audits. The COBEA comprises a mix of four English, French and Arabic SAIs member states in alphabetical order, with a mandate of three years.

“This model will ensure equal opportunities for SAIs member states to participate as audit team members as well as to chair the COBEA in their allocated respective years. Upon approval of the Charter and the framework by the Council of Ministers, the audit of the financial statements for the year 2017 is expected to commence in May 2018,” added Mr Herath.

And on how the SAIs auditing will be done, Mr Herath said all four will travel to Lusaka where COBEA will have a permanent secretariat in the secretariat itself.

“They will be sitting there doing the audit by visiting the institutions in different countries,” he clarified.

The auditors general, he remarked, also noted the need to reconstitute the audit and budget committee of Comesa which has been in existence since 2006. To give effect to this, Mr Herath said a new committee is to be set up during this year itself following the Council’s annual meeting.

On how such a conference could benefit the Seychelles office of the auditor general (OAG), Mr Herath said OAG is expected to play an active role both on the audit and budget committee and the COBEA during different years.

“This involvement will help build competence as well as confidence in the OAG staff while enabling them to participate actively in the good governance process of the Comesa for the first time since becoming a member of the bloc.”