THE Auditor General’s Office has signed a memorandum of understanding with Price Water House Coopers (PwC) in a bid to enhance technical capacity of staff members at the former’s institution.

Speaking during the signing ceremony, Thursday, Auditor General Dick Chellah Sichembe said the MOU would ultimately improve the quality of audits and enhance transparency and accountability in the management of public resources.

“I am pleased that we have with us today, the country senior partner of Price Water house Coopers (PwC) and his delegation, for the signing ceremony of the first Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the government of the Republic of Zambia through the Office of the Auditor General and PwC. As you are aware, the Audit profession is dynamic, as the audit methodologies, types of audits and the audit standards are ever changing. This therefore compels us to move with the changing times. Further, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that we must always be prepared for any eventuality, and that we must embrace new ways of conducting public audits. This means that we must explore various ways and means to ensure that we are always current,” Sichembe said.

“The main objective of this MoU is to enhance technical capacity of OAG staff which will ultimately improve the quality of audits and enhance transparency and accountability in the management of public resources. In order to achieve this objective, my office has identified PwC as a partner to collaborate with in various types of audit engagements. This collaboration with PwC will add value to our office taking into account the technical capacity that institution has.”

Sichembe said during the period of the MoU, the Auditor General’s office would, among other things, identify audit engagements on which they would collaborate with PwC.

“During the period of this MoU, my Office will, among others: Identity audit engagements under our mandate for which we can collaborate with PwC; facilitate for the conduct of audit engagements by providing; the relevant staff, materials and equipment for our auditors, to enable us effectively participate and contribute towards the implementation of the MoU act as the owner of all audit engagements. On the other hand, it is expected that PwC will, among others: identify audit engagements under its charge and facilitate the attachment of OAG staff to jointly carry out these audits; collaborate with the OAG on audit engagements identified, as a means of knowledge sharing and capacity building; Provide technical support during the execution of the audits selected during the period of the collaboration; Assist build capacity in the use and application of information and communications technology (ICT) for effective delivery of audits,” said Sichembe.

“This MoU that we are about to sign is meant to have a formalized collaboration between our two institutions for the effective implementation of a common goal of ensuring that we demonstrate our value to the Zambian people by following the Kwacha wherever it goes and continue to be a credible and reliable Supreme Audit Institution. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my team that worked closely with PwC and indeed the Ministry of Justice in ensuring that the MoU was appropriately formulated. I look forward to giving you my full support in the implementation of this MOU.”