Swedish govt gives billions to boost NAOT performance

BY AISIA RWEYEMAMU

27th February 2013

Controller and Auditor General (CAG) Ludovick Utouh

The National Audit Office Tanzania (NAOT) and the Swedish National Audit Office (SNAO) yesterday inked the third phase of National Audit Office Development Project (NAODP) to enhance the level of accountability and transparency in the use of public resources in the former.

The signed project will cost 5bn/- of which SNAO will contribute 40 per cent, the government of Tanzania 5 per cent and Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) 55 per cent of money.

Speaking during the signing ceremony in Dar es Salam yesterday, the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) Ludovick Utouh said the overall objectives of the project is to further enhance public accountability and financial discipline throughout public  institutions.

He added that the project also aims to ensure accountability and transparency in public revenues and expenditures so as to achieve social and economic development and facilitate delivery for sustainability.

The CAG elaborated that the third phase of the project is justified by the long term sustainability and value for money use of investments made during the first and second phase projects.

“Therefore, through the project there is a need to continue and complete the new way of undertaking financial audit and upgrade performance audit, ”CAG insisted.

Utouh noted that the project will also assist the office to implement its 10 years development vision as well as assisting the office in the new assignment of auditing the institutions of the United Nations and continue with capacity building efforts of the Parliamentary Oversight Committee.

According to the CAG, the total cost for the first phase of NAODP was 11.3bn/- from 2004 to February 2008; the second phase had a budget of 7.6bn/- from March 2008 to December 2012. 

Arising from the encouraging results, the first two phases of sustainability challenges posed by NAOT, the partners decided to launch a third phase which is termed, ‘sustainability phase’ that started in January 2013 and will end in December 2015.

Speaking at the same event, the Auditor General of Sweden Jan Landahl said that the UN task will mean a heavy strain on the NAOT when it comes to carrying the national mandate.

“You are a growing organization, and the UN task only adds to the need for recruitments of new staff, in my view this is something that we should bear in mind as we will implement the project activities for three years,” the Sweden Auditor General noted.

He concluded that the project is now aiming at sustaining the development level that has been through NAODP phase 1 and 2 as sustainability has been an important objective throughout the eight years of the project.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN