I have just learnt that Mr Rexford Kampanje who was formerly the Accountant General has been confirmed as Auditor General. The parliament also confirmed the appointment of Lovemore Munlo as the Chief Justice.
I am not so much concerned by the appointment of Munlo, rather my concern hinges on the appointment of a fellow Accountant Rexford Kampanje. Normally, I should be celebrating at his appointment with hope that he is going to represent the interests of Accountants in Civil Service but most importantly he would institute controls within the civil service to avoid a repeat of the Field York Scandal and the K187m Education corruption from happening again by insuring amongst other things that procurement and expenditure authorisation procedures are adhered to by civil servants. Sadly am not celebrating and this why;
(a) Mr Kampanje is the former Accountant General, therefore by accepting the appointment, would he be auditing his own work? He has been at the OPC less than 12 months whilst waiting for parliamentary approval to become the Auditor General.
(b)Mr Kampanje is ACCA qualified. Under the code of professional ethics, Accountants must not take up appointment that would compromise their professional independence. So why would Kampanje accept the appointment? Is it because of political pressure?
Some few months ago the Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe rightly asserted that if Mr Kampanje was appointed Auditor General, he would be reviewing his own work. My view is that if we had good and transparent corporate governance structures in Malawi governement civil service, the proposal to appoint Kampanje should not have been made in the first place because there would be an obvious threat to independence. Would he be able to question accounts or expenditure he himself authorised?
The safeguard of appointing external auditors as suggested by the finance minister to avoid independence problems that may arise as a result of the appointment is not adequate. In any case, external auditors should be hired with or without the Auditor General in place. The appointment of an Auditor General does not subsume the need for independent external auditors, rather it is a way of setting up controls and monitoring of those controls in government and government departments. The external auditors should be appointed to act as an independent control to monitor tools set by the Auditor General and his team, otherwise , there might also be the danger that the AG woul be reviewing his own work.
The fact that the Malawi government has been without the Auditor General for quite a while is simply beyond me. Malawi is blessed with top Accountants who would uphold the moral standards by ensuring that government resourses are utilised effectively and efficiently. It is simply not right to have the position of Auditor General vacant for a long time. Does it suprise anyone why some corrupt practices in civil service have gone unchecked?
Although Kampanje has accepted the appointment, it has not come without its challenges. Firstly, there is a small matter where the Speaker’s ruling on parliamentary quorum is being challenged. This follows the boycotting of opposition MPs from deliberations. This means that the appointment was approved by the government side only. Is it legal? Would civil servants respect Kampanje?
Should the opposition succeed on their challenge of the parliamentary Quoram, the appointments of Munlo and Kampanje will be nullified. Is this cost effective on the part of government?
Am sure there are Malawians within the civil service equally capable and qualified if not better to carry out the duties of the office of the Auditor General. Is Mr Kampanje exceptionally good??
What is the difference between the Auditor General and Accountant General interms of ranking? What would motivate someone to take up one and leave the other? Is it a form of promotion or greed? Someone please educate me.
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