Auditor General CPA Edward Akol taking an Oath after being appointed by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni at the State House Entebbe on the 22nd July 2024
HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I Uganda’s financial and political fraternities are jubilant following the appointment of a new Auditor General, after 20 uninterrupted years of service by the outgoing head.
John F.S. Muwanga, the previous Auditor General had served in the position for more than 20 years.
President Yoweri Museveni recently appointed Edward Akol as Auditor General, and he was subsequently approved by parliament on the 4th of July 2024.
Akol joined the Office of the Auditor General as an auditor in August 1994. He was later promoted to senior auditor in July 1999 and later became a senior principal auditor in 2004 before being appointed as deputy auditor general.
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and Auditor General CPA Edward Akol pose for a photo after the Newly appointed Auditor General taking an Oath at the State House Entebbe
The oath that ushered in Akol was administered by the Head of Public service & Secretary to Cabinet, Ms. Lucy Nakyobe Mbonye at State House Entebbe recently.
Speaking shortly after the swearing-in ceremony, President Museveni congratulated Akol, before calling on him to ‘smell’ for the country if he is to deal with corruption in the country.
“I congratulate you and your family for being appointed the Auditor General of the country. The Banyankole say ‘Orurikwenda kwita embwa rugigara enyindo,’ loosely translated as a dog, if it can no longer smell, then it will die, so Akol’s job is to ‘smell’ for Uganda,” he said.
The President cautioned the new Auditor General about corrupt auditors, saying that he should not depend solely on written evidence but rather use the public to gather information about corruption.
“About auditors who are given money and write false reports, this is easy to detect. Don’t just depend on the written reports, send people to the field to find out, how are my people doing because the public knows, rely on the written records but also on the field checks,” he added.
There has been a lot of professional skepticism about the audit quality in Uganda. The phenomenon of questionable audits and audited financial statements first came to light from the findings of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the Closure of banks in 1999.
All the three closed and investigated banks [International Credit Bank, Greenland Bank and Cooperative Banks] had questionable but unqualified financial statements audited by the same auditors over a long time
