One of Zambia’s top professional services network firms PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) on March 25, signed a technical assistance memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Office of the Public Auditor. The intent of this agreement was to enhance adoption of the highest corporate governance tenets namely; transparency and accountability in public finance management. For decades, the office of the public auditor also called the auditor generals office has conducted audits that have revealed revenue leakages, misappropriation and misapplications whose inertia in timely actioning is very topical especially at a time when the copper producers fiscal posture remains fragile weighed by a weak revenue earning capacity.
Multilateral bodies such as the Washington based lenders namely the International Monetary Fund and World Bank have cited accountability as key drivers of restored confidence and fiscal fitness restoration.
An MoU with top assurance firm will not only add a competitive touch to internal public audits but will assist bridge gaps the auditor generals office grapples with. The assistance will help with execution, planning, scoping and collaboration.
Commenting on the partnership, Country Partner Andrew Chibuye commended the public auditors office for being drivers of accountability and fiscal discipline in parastatals and ministries aligned to the prescriptions of public finance management act especially at a time when every cent counts for the nation.
“The office of the Auditor General is critical institution in embedding corporate governance in the government,” Chibuye said.
“With the technical capacity of PricewaterhouseCoopers in the period of the agreement, the firm will facilitate to conducting of audit engagements by providing the relevant staff, tools and equipment for auditors,” Auditor General Dick Sichembe said.
PWC remains a key services network player in the Zambian economy across critical sectors such as banking, non – bank and insurance faculties through their analytical annual surveys in addition to the budget analysis while simultaneously educating citizenry on matters of taxation and interpretations in light of key regulatory developments from an accounting perspective.
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