Maravi

Dutch envoy hails expense on Auditor General's office

Dutch envoy hails expense on Auditor General's office
By Moses Kuwema
Sun 04 Dec. 2011, 13:30 CAT

NETHERLANDS Ambassador to Zambia Harry Molenaar says the money that his country has been providing to the Auditor General's office has been well spent.

Speaking when visiting Norwegian Auditor General Jorgen Kosmo met deputy minister in the office of the Vice-President Edgar Lungu at his office on Friday, Ambassador Molenaar said the money that his country had provided to the Auditor General's has been well spent.

"May I add a bit because I am a bit of an old hand in this country. I am here for three years and sometimes you look at your development cooperation programme and some activities are more successful than others but when I look at our programme, I would say the money spent on the Auditor General's office is well spent," he said.

"I mean....in the past the going was not easy; it was tough and the Auditor General herself stood her ground in different circumstances and we have seen results of that when we have the unfortunate corruption scams in the past like in (Ministry of) health. She actually had to take over the whole auditing system in the ministry and its money as we can say from our side, very well spent."

And Lungu said the Auditor General's office was the hub of the country's development.

"And if you are saying money spent in the Auditor General's office is money well spent, that's very good for me and for us as the government because it assures us that we can still get back to you and engage you as our partners," Lungu said.

Lungu said the government was in a hurry to get going and change the country and that the promise of development within 90 days had to be seen.

At this moment, Norwegian Ambassador to Zambia Tore Gjøs chipped in and said: "It is 70 days so far."

As Lungu responded: "It's 70 days, yes, but certain changes can be felt. It starts with the mind; minds have already changed. Our attitude to work is different. The Auditor General knows we are very punctual. We do report to work on time, everything now has changed because of the mental attitude."

Auditor General Anna Chifungula also added: "For the first time I am seeing some civil servants being in the office at 08:00 hours."

Lungu then continued saying there was a "bit more money in people's pockets".

"Thank you for your support. We can assure you that all your support is not in vain; we treasure it. On behalf of the Zambian people, I can guarantee you that we are there to provide for them, they are the employers and whatever we do is in the best interest of the Zambian people," said Lungu.

Labels: ANNA CHIFUNGULA, AUDITOR GENERAL, HARRY MOLENAAR

posted by MrK @ 5:39 AM