Rwanda will for the first time take over the Chairmanship of the East African Audit Commission, the Deputy Auditor General; Obadiah Biraro has said. Biraro exclusively told The New Times that the development comes under article 134 of the East African Community Treaty which among others provides for an independent audit committee that would audit all the federation’s organs. He said that when it’s the turn of a particular country to head the commission, it is this country that audits the organs assisted by auditors from two countries. Upon being chosen, the three countries are required to audit all the organs of the EAC federation and present reports to the federation’s legislative assembly. Currently, the Chairmanship is held by Tanzania, with assistance from Rwanda and Burundi. Upon taking over, Rwanda will be assisted by Kenya and Burundi. Asked how Rwanda would benefit from holding the Chairmanship, Biraro explained that since his office joined the Commission two years ago, it has a lot to offer and also learn from their colleagues. “We are taking there our capability by giving them the expertise of our Auditor General, Director and senior auditors. The trust bestowed upon us by the East African Legislative Assembly and the Commission will be used to improve and also learn from the financial management of the EAC organs,” he said. Biraro added that his office had the potential to do much better, if its capacity was boosted. “We have potential to do even way better than we are right now, but we are hindered by lack of enough capacity,” he said The Auditor General’s Office officially started presenting their annual findings in 2003 and could at that time only audit 46 institutions as compared to the 110 that were audited last year. Ends
