By KENNEDY MUPESENI –

. Chifungula

THE Auditor General’s office is currently working with the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) to train officers to effectively audit mining companies in the country, Auditor General Anna Chifungula has said.
Stakeholders have been concerned about the capacity of the Auditor General’s office and the Zambia Revenue Authority to effectively audit the mining sector which has been engulfed with allegations of tax evasion in recent years.
However Ms Chifungula said her office was committed to create capacity in her officers to competently handle mine audits.
“We are working with EITI to train our officers in the intricacies of auditing the mines so that the country is able to realise maximum benefits from the sector,” she said.
Ms Chifungula said in an interview in Lusaka that her office would continue working with institutions to create capacity and reduce misuse of funds.
She said that her office was currently doing performance audits of all public institutions which would reduce audit queries.
“We are carrying out performance audits on various public and statutory institutions like the Road Development Agency (RDA),
Ministry of Lands among other institutions in the country,” she said.
The Office of the Auditor General is a public institution charged with the responsibility of providing external auditing services to the government to enhance accountability and transparency in the utilisation of public resources.
The Auditor General’s Report is a result of checks, inspections and examination of accounts, stores, projects and other records maintained by the public officers entrusted with public funds and procedures.