Late submission of handing over notes impedes transition process

Mr David Yaro, the Administrator-General of Presidential Estates has said late submission of handing-over notes impeded transition process.

He said the Office of The Administrator -General has since taken some measures to ameliorate the shortcomings and to ensure that come January 2021, the issues would be a thing of the past.

This was said at a day’s workshop held at the Civil Service Training Centre for assigned officers in charge of fixed assets at the various agencies under government machinery.

Mr Yaro said “the present method of compiling data on State Assets and Property is not full-proof. Pending the acquisition of asset management software to assist in properly capturing all procurement, consultations have been held with the officials of the Controller and Accountant General’s Department to get the Office of the Administrator General hooked unto the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) platform”.

He said that would enable the automatic capture of all procurement undertaken by all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), Regional Coordinating Councils (RCCs), Metropolitan, Municipal and Districts Assemblies (MMDAs) operating under the platform.

The Administrator-General said the Office of the Administrator General (OAG) had written to all MDAs, RCCs and Metropolitan, Municipal Districts Assemblies (MMDAs) which are presently not on the GIFMIS platform, to take steps to get hooked up, by the close of 2019, to help us built a comprehensive database on Government Assets and Property”.

An appeal has been made to the Ministry of Finance to serve the OAG with copies of approvals granted to MDAs, RCCs and MMDAs to procure State Assets Properties.

A request had also been sent to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) to endeavour to give the OAG quarterly returns on any new registration of Government vehicles, he noted.

Notwithstanding the steps that were taken so far, the workshop was one other step the OAG took towards meeting its challenges.

It is also intended to equip Assets managers of the institutions presented with the requisite knowledge on how to produce a credible database/register. He said with the workshop, every institution would have a credible Assets Register upon which the OAG could rely for the compilation of a comprehensive database for the country.

Mr Yaro said once there was credible register of state property and Assets, the shortcomings encountered during the preparation of the 2016 handing -over notes, would not arise when the 2020 handing-over notes were prepared.

Mr Francis Tsetse, Head of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS),Computer-Aided Geometric Design (CAGD) also said the purpose of the fixed assets management and guideline policy was to guide public officers to ensure that, the proper control existed in the management in the keeping of the custody of the assets that are placed under their care .

He said the Public Financial Management Act 2016, Act 921 specifically spelt out what they were supposed to do or to know in that instance.

He said an officer in a state owned enterprise or a public cooperation shall be responsible for the assets of the institution under the care of the particular principals of the officer and shall ensure that proper control existed for the management and custody of the assets.