The Auditor General’s office has launched a five-year strategic plan in line with the Seventh National Development Plan (7NDP) to enable it contribute positively towards attaining objectives outlined in the plan.

And Public Accounts (PAC) Committee Chairperson Howard Kunda has implored government to strengthen the Auditor General’s office by improving its capacity to provide an oversight role in the management of public resources.

Speaking during the launch, Friday, acting Auditor General Ron Mwambwa said the plan, which set out his office’s objectives, was developed after wide consultations with its stakeholders including the Management Development Division (MDD).

“It is envisaged that the successful implementation of tis plan will place my office in a stronger position to positively contribute towards the attainment of the 7NDP. Our approach in implementing this plan will not be business as usual. Priority will be placed on tracking of performance in order to ensure that we don’t lose track of overall progress. And in this regard, we have come up with an implementation plan which will guide our implementation activities to ensure success. This document was developed after broad consultations with our stakeholders to whom I am grateful for their positive participation in the development of this document and in particular, I would like to acknowledge the input of our colleagues at the Management Development Division, without whom this process would not have been a success,” said Mwambwa.

And speaking at the same event, Kunda expressed confidence that the Auditor General’s office, once strengthened, would compel government to improve on management of public funds.

“I am glad to learn that the office of the Auditor General has finalised the formulation of its strategic plan for the period 2017-2021 and that you have already started implementing the plan. I am aware that government requires all strategic plans to be aligned to the electoral cycle and national development cycle. The reason is simple: to ensure that all government institutions support the implementation of programmes being implemented and I am further aware that during the developing of the strategic plan, you had to refer to the Seventh National Development Plan (7NDP) and other government guidelines. It is gratifying to note that indeed the focus of the plan is to support the monitoring of the implementation of the 7NDP. These are the kinds of linkages that we expect from all government institutions,” said Kunda.

He also proposed that government sets up an audit division to audit all local authorities and to operationalize the State Audit Commission Act of 2016 as well as the public audit act of 2016.