In response to Siaosi Siomia

Dear Editor

Re: The question of conflict of interest 

Talofa Siaosi Siomia,

Here is the official response of the Audit Office to your question:

1. The Controller & Auditor-General is a Career Auditor who started as an Audit Examiner (Graduate level) in 1996 after graduation from Otago University.

2. He rose through the ranks to become Samoa’s Controller & Auditor-General in 2010. All of us working in the Samoa Audit Office including the Controller & Auditor-General took a biblical oath of fidelity on entry that we will perform our duties faithfully and with honesty and integrity and in the best interests of Samoa Audit Office and Independent State and People of Samoa.

3. In addition to the Controller and Auditor-General, there are 50 other qualified State Auditors conducting the audits of the Independent State of Samoa. The interest of the Independent State and People of Samoa is the only interest that the Controller and Auditor General and all Staff of the Audit Office serve despite Samoa being a small country with almost everyone related by blood or through marriage.

4. For further clarification, please refer to Information Papers on our website (www.audit.gov.ws). Our latest was issued on 21 November 2017. These will also be made available on our the Samoa Audit Office Facebook page.

5. The Audit Office has already issued the Opinion/Report on the 2016 Audited Public Accounts but you will have to wait for Parliament and parliamentary procedures to be completed, which should not be far away. This is the law on parliamentary procedures for audited Public Accounts.

6. The concerns you raised should be addressed upon completion of Parliamentary procedures as outlined in this article.

 

Ma le fa’aaloalo lava,

Sita Leota

Director – Communications & Stakeholder Relationships 

Samoa Audit Office

Samoa Observer

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