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Office of the Auditor-General, Solomon Islands: In an innovative peer-to-peer arrangement to support the growth of the Solomon Islands Supreme Audit Institution (SAI), Auditor General Peter Lokay, together with Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions (PASAI) and the New Zealand and Australian Governments have worked closely together to coordinate a one year secondment for direct support in the Office.
PASAI advertised an Expression of Interest in December 2018 and received an overwhelming response. An assessment of all applications were made and finally Rachel McKechnie - an Associate Director, Specialist Audit and Assurance Services from SAI New Zealand - was selected.
After nearly a year of behind-the-scenes organisation and comprehensive recruitment activities, Rachel started her secondment at the Office of the Auditor-General in the Solomon Islands (SI-OAG) on 2 September 2019. She will be working with the team as the Deputy Auditor-General (DAG) for the coming year to provide assistance to strengthen the capacity and sustainability of the Office.
During the course of the year she will work alongside the Office’s Audit Managers to mentor and coach them so that one of them will take over the DAG position. Other responsibilities will include developing an effective quality control system for the Solomon Islands OAG and liaising with other strategic partners as they collectively seek to embed strengthening audit practices.
Auditor-General Mr Peter Lokay, who has needed to fill this vacant role since 2016, created this approach and coordinated with PASAI with a vision to help build the capacity of his office to deliver his mandate. New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade (MFAT) is funding Rachel’s deployment while DFAT Australia supports other logistical arrangements.
Says Peter Lokay, ‘We are privileged and thrilled to have Rachel working with us in such a practical guidance role for the next year. I know she will provide much-needed emphasis on quality audits while helping us build capacity for the future. We trust that Rachel will enjoy her time with us as much as we appreciate having her here.’
For the two development partners, MFAT and DFAT, and PASAI and SAI New Zealand, it is a novel arrangement that has taken considerable time and collaboration to organise. New Zealand High Commissioner Don Higgins noted, “The Office of the Auditor-General plays a vital role in providing independent assurance to Parliament and to the people of Solomon Islands that public sector agencies have used public funds for the purposes for which they have been appropriated and in accordance with legislations, financial management rules and regulations. We are delighted to provide this secondment to assist the Auditor-General to carry out these functions.”
PASAI’s Chief Executive, Tiofilusi Tiueti, agrees. ‘We are very pleased with the outcome of this important peer support process. As with our very successful twinning and FASTS programmes, this enables a developing SAI to learn directly from a developed SAI and someone who is highly qualified for this role in all senses. We hope that in future we may be able to extend similar peer-to-peer cooperation and arrangements to other SAIs to provide the right support, at the right time, in the right way.’
The Auditor-General acknowledges all partners in making this arrangement possible which will greatly move the office forward with its mandated programs.
For more information please contact PASAI Communications Advisor on
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Staff at the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) last week participated in the process of developing the OAG’s annual plan for the first time in the history of the institution.
An initiative of the Auditor General Peter Lokay, the new approach is designed to promote collaboration, ownership and innovation across the institution’s various divisions.
Mr Lokay said he hoped it would mean the insights OAG staff had gained as a result of implementing this year’s annual plan would be captured so that lesson learned could be shared and applied.
“Previously I use to ask the different units for submissions and then I would write up the annual plan myself, but I want to change that so staff can collaborate and participate at the planning stage not just at the point of implementation,” he said.
This approach was supported by Australia’s Governance Program for Solomon Islands with the Deputy Governance Program Head, Brian Lenga, facilitating a planning workshop last week.
Mr Lenga said the workshop provided staff the opportunity to discuss what had worked and what had been a challenge in the implementation of the current annual plan and look for solutions or share ideas for new approaches.
“There were some very lively discussions during the workshop which is always a good start for a collaborative approach, “Mr Lenga said.
The OAG is one of the key accountability institutions established under the Solomon Islands Constitution. It requires the Auditor General to examine, audit and report to Parliament once every year on the public accounts of the State, the control of public money and public property and all transactions with or concerning public money or public property of the State.
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David Dennis took up the role of Auditor General on 28th September 2021 after many years experience in the local and regional financial sectors. .png)
A member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia and Solomon Islands Certified Practicing Accountants,
Previously he has held the role of Chief Executive Officer for the ANZ Banking Group in Timor Leste and Cook Islands. He has also held numerous senior executive roles in Solomon Islands as well as voluntary roles including the President of the Institute of Solomon Islands Accountants for a number of years.
In 2020 Mr Dennis completed a Masters Research in International Relations at St Andrews University, Scotland. He also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Insurance from Deakin University, Melbourne, 2002; and a Bachelor of Economics, Majoring in Professional Accounting and Finance from Macquarie University, Sydney, 1994.
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The Auditor General has issued a special thematic audit report calling on the Government to strengthen procurement processes after compliance audits of three key ministries uncovered a series of problematic procurement practices in their management of $90 million COVID19 response funds.
Speaking at a press conference today, the Auditor General, David Dennis said his office chose to issue the thematic report after identifying a common thread of internal control failures when auditing three ministries that were key to the country’s COVID19 preparedness and response plans during the 2020 State of Public Emergency (SOPE).
The ministries are the pdfMinistry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS)(8.84 MB), pdfMinistry of Infrastructure (MID)(8.85 MB) and the pdfNational Disaster Management Office (NDMO)(9.09 MB) through the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology.
Mr Dennis said there was a common theme of a lack of transparency and a lack of required documentation across all three audits.
“This includes the inability to provide my office with full documentation to review transactions, indicating a major failure of accountability and this is an area that all Ministries need to address,” Mr Dennis said.
Between them the Ministries spent over $90 million on goods, services and works to support the response to the COVID19 pandemic in the period from 1 April to 31 December, 2020.
Most of this funding was spent using bid waivers in what the pdfspecial thematic report(9.13 MB) described as ‘truncated procurement processes’.
There are also areas in which noncompliance, potential fraud and lack of accountability could together impact the efficient emergency procurements to deliver required and effective services expected during a crisis situation.”
Mr Dennis said it was important to acknowledge the extraordinary circumstances created by COVID19 which had heightened the inherent risk for expediting procurements and delivery of services at the expense of following established procedures.
“It is my view however that the existence of an urgent requirement should mean that controls are applied with urgency, and not discarded,” he said.
In the case of the Ministry of Health and Medical Services, the audits also looked at the issues of transparency, accountability, and inclusiveness to identify potential gaps and recommend possible solutions to address these. These were based on international experience of best practice needs during an emergency situation.
Mr Dennis said he hoped that the recommendations in the thematic report would assist the Government, in particular the Ministry of Finance and Treasury (MOFT), as well as the three ministries involved to strengthen their procurement processes both in emergency and normal operations.
All three ministries and MoFT have been provided with copies of the audits and offered the opportunity for further briefings and discussions with the OAG.
“I intend to follow up on the findings and commitments made in response to our recommendations, through future audits of each of these Ministries.
The OAG is one of the key accountability institutions established under the Solomon Islands Constitution which requires the Auditor General to audit and report on the public accounts of Solomon Islands, including all Ministries, offices, special funds, courts and authorities of the Government, and of the government of Honiara City and of all provincial governments.
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Exciting Opportunity! Come join our team!
Are you looking to make a difference in our community? Are you an expert in financial matters? If yes then look no further, we have a number of new exciting opportunities to join our dynamic team at the Office of the Auditor General.
Our office has embarked on a transformation journey to deliver quality audits to the Government and people of Solomon Islands. Our agency is committed to equal opportunities and investing in people. Apply now and take the first step toward an exciting career journey with us!
The Office of the Auditor General’s (OAG) vision is to build public sector accountability through independence and professionalism. We do this through our role as the Government Auditor for Solomon Islands undertaking audits of all government entities, including ministries, courts, government of Honiara City and provincial governments. The audits include financial, performance, compliance and special investigation audits. The OAG issues an audit opinion and reports its results to the government entity and to parliament. The OAG makes a valuable contribution to achieving the objectives of the government of the Solomon Islands and to managing the government’s risks.
The OAG and National Statistics Office are joint implementing agencies receiving financing from the World Bank toward the cost of the project, Building Capacity in Statistics and Audit (CAPSA) and intends to apply part of the proceeds for consulting services. The project is expected to run until 28 December 2028 and aims to improve the availability and quality of official statistics and audits in Solomon Islands.
The OAG’s component of the project supports the OAG’s objective of delivering high-quality audits on a timely basis by strengthening the technical capacity of staff and enhancing quality assurance (QA) practices. The following roles are now being advertised as part of the project.
| Reference | Specialist role | Specialist services | Terms of Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| SB-OAG-412120-CS-INDV | Quality Assurance (QA) Specialist |
The consulting services will:
|
Download ToR for |
| SB-OAG-412122-CS-INDV | Specialist Technical Lead (STL) - Financial Audit Branch |
The consulting services will
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Download ToR for pdfSpecialist Technical Lead (STL) - Financial Audit Branch(151 KB) |
| SB-OAG-412123-CS-INDV | Specialist Technical Lead (STL) - Performance Audit Branch |
The consulting services will
|
Download ToR for pdfSpecialist Technical Lead (STL) - Performance Audit Branch(178 KB) |
| SB-OAG-412124-CS-INDV | IT Audit Specialist |
The consulting services will provide specialist advice and technical support on IT controls and processes to enable efficient audit delivery. The IT Audit Specialist will report to the Specialist Technical Lead (Performance Audit Branch) and will provide assistance across other audit branches and to the Quality Assurance Specialist. |
Download ToR for pdfIT Audit Specialist(156 KB) |
The detailed Terms of Reference (TOR) for the assignment are linked above and provide details of the scope of the services required along with specific deliverables expected. The TOR can also be found at www.oag.gov.sb.
The consultants will be based in the OAG Office in Honiara for the duration of the services. They will be 24-month full-time contracts (including a probation period of 6 months) with the possibility of extension annually for the life of the project subject to satisfactory performance. The contracts will be a hybrid contract with a time and deliverable component which will be detailed in the negotiation stage.
The Office of the Auditor General now invites eligible individuals (“Consultants”) to indicate their interest in providing the Services. Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the Services (attach curriculum vitae and a cover letter with description of experience in similar assignments, similar conditions, etc.). Firms’ staff may express interest through the employing firm for the assignment and, under such situation, only the experience and qualifications of individuals shall be considered in the selection process.
The attention of interested Consultants (including firms) is drawn to paragraph 3.14, 3.16 and 3.17 of the World Bank’s Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers, dated September 2023 (“the Regulations”), setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest.
Prospective consultants are requested to provide an expression of interest in a written form, by email, to the