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THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC
Mindful of ordinance 15 and 16 of 14 April 1967 ;
Mindful of organic law 60 - 29 of 5 August 1960 relating to the procedure on judicial and public accounting issues before the Supreme Court ;
Mindful of Law 64-23 of 31 October 1964 setting forth the role and responsibilities of public accountants ;
Mindful of decree 60 - 63 of 11 July 1960 establishing an administrative and financial departments permanent mobile audit service ;
The cabinet meeting having deliberated ;
Article 1 : An Office of the Auditor General shall be established within the office of the President of the Republic to replace the Administrative and Financial Departments' Permanent Mobile Audit Service.
Article 2 : The function of the Office of the Auditor General shall be to exercise, on behalf of the President of the Republic, control on all the institutions mentioned in article 3, in order to safeguard the interests of the state and the rights of individuals and monitor the enforcement of laws and regulations governing the administrative, economic and financial sectors.
This control shall be effected either in the course of the management or as a post — audit exercise, on figures and documents, during audit, verification or investigation assignments.
Article 3 : The control of the Office of the Auditor General shall be exercised on all the public services of the state be they civil or military, under state control or secondary communities, and in a general manner all institutions under the authority of the state or which enjoy state assistance.
The control shall apply to the budget operations and budget annexes of the state, secondary communities, public enterprises, offices, and establishments and transactions in connections with external borrowings and assistance.
Article 4 : Notwithstanding the provisions of article 3, the control cannot undermine the authority of the judiciary.
This exception does not concern the organization and functioning of the judicial services which shall remain subject to the control of the Office of the Auditor General.
Article 5 : The control exercised by the Office of the Auditor General shall not impair the organization and functioning of the audit work and technical controls specific to a number of Ministries.
Article 6 : The Office of the Auditor General shall be headed by an Auditor General to be assisted by a Deputy Auditor General and State Auditors.
Article 7 : The Office of the Auditor General shall be organized and operated under the conditions defined hereunder:
The Office of the Auditor General shall be placed under the authority of the Auditor General, appointed by Decree passed at a Cabinet meeting and who shall be responsible directly to the President of the Republic.
The Auditor General shall be assisted in his duties by a Deputy Auditor General appointed by decree issued by the President of the Republic upon proposal by the Auditor General.
The Office of the Auditor General shall comprise :
- a management ;
- a secretariat ;
- central audit departments ;
- mobile audit departments.
a) The management which shall be responsible for managerial and coordination duties shall be ensured by :
- The Audit General ;
- The Deputy Auditor General.
b) The Secretariat shall be organized into three offices as follows :
- the mail's office ;
- the administrative office ;
- the documentation and archives office.
These three offices shall be placed under the authority of a Head of Secretariat.
c) The central audit unit shall comprise three departments :
- the "administrative affairs" department responsible, on the one hand, for centralizing the work of the mobile audit unit on traditional administrative, civil and military services, synthesizing them and monitoring their operation on the one hand, and undertaking, wherever necessary, audit, verification and investigations within these same units ;
- the "organization and methods" department responsible for studies relating to the organization, regulation, structures and methods of the various units and agencies involved in the administration of the state in order to, among others, enhance the effectiveness and output of these departments.
Each department shall be headed by a State Auditor appointed by the President of the Republic upon proposal by the Auditor General.
d) The Mobile Audit Departments shall be constituted by mobile groups which shall resort to, on the one hand, the staff of the Permanent Mobil Audit service, and on the other hand technicians, civil servants, military personnel, or specialists whose assistance shall be deemed necessary for a specific assignment.
The mobile audit group shall be a purely temporary unit, placed under the authority of the Auditor General and may be composed as follows :
- one or several State Auditors ;
- one or several technicians ;
- execution staff.
The creation of a mobile audit unit, which shall be subject to a decision by the President of the Republic shall specify :
- the assignment for which the group has been established ;
- the authority on whose behalf this assignment is being performed ;
- the identity of the group leader.
The State Auditor shall be responsible for determining, by a service note, the composition of the group and providing it with the material resources necessary for its assignment.
Article 8 : The Office of the Auditor General shall function under the direct authority of the President of the Republic who shall decide, by special directives, the routine or occasional assignments to be entrusted to State Auditors.
Members of Government may, at any time, request the intervention of the Office of the Auditor General in the sector, within their authority however, a it is only the President of the Republic who shall ascertain whether or not it is possible and opportune to take action in connection with such requests.
Unless otherwise directed, any audit, verification or investigation assignment undertaken by an Auditor from the Office of the Auditor General shall be covered by a report containing observations about which the officer in charge of the unit being audited shall be given notice and required to provide explanations ; every report shall formulate, in its conclusion, measures for improving or rectifying the lapses noted and penalizing any irregularities.
Article. 9 : The Auditor General may be resorted to, for his opinion on any dossier or project either by the President of the Republic, or the Minister Responsible for preparing the dossier or project.
Although this opinion has only an advisory character and is not binding on the authority which has solicited it, it must be maintained in support of the dossier or project.
Article 10 : Auditors from the Office of the Auditor General must take part, on the orders of the President of the Republic, or at the instance of the Minister concerned, in the work of commissions or study groups on the various activities of the State,
The Office of the Auditor General may, in addition, to have itself represented on any commission dealing with the administrative regulation or in which the rights of persons or the economic arid financial interests of the State, a community or public institution are being examined.
The Office of the Auditor General shall be represented on the Board of Directors and any other organ of Public Institutions, Mixed Economy Companies, Para - Administrative Agencies and any other agency enjoying State assistance.
The representative of the Office of the Auditor General may formulate observations on the deliberations and debates in which he is participating and require that a report should be prepared to cover them. These observations are not binding on the authority vested with the decision-making power.
Article 11 : The Auditor General may, on his own initiative, conduct or have conducted by the staff at his disposal, any studies on issues within his are of competence and submit to the President of the Republic any proposals arising there from.
He is empowered to monitor the follow-up to the proposals formulated by State Auditors under his authority.
He must submit a report to the President of the Republic on the shortcomings noted in this respect or the results achieved.
Article 12 : The right of investigation of State Auditors in the department listed under article 3 of this decree shall not be subject to any restriction other than the one emanating from article 5 of this decree. Officers shall be responsible for the use of this right only to their superiors.
They may have unhindered access to any State institution to make the findings necessary for the assignment, examine on the spot all documents in possession of the institution being audited regardless of their classification or have such documents handed to them in return for a receipt except accounting documents vouchers and secret documents.
They can, in addition, monitor the trend of all the operations of the agency audited and no officer of this agency shall absent himself from duty throughout the duration of the audit exercise unless with the prior consent of his superior and the Head of the Audit mission.
The latter may interdict accountant found either by himself or a State Auditor to be in an irregular situation and affix the seals on the documents accountant's immediate boss about it and reporting on it to the President of the Republic.
Article 13 : Auditors from the Office of the Auditor General shall call for any explanations they may deem necessary from the staff of the departments or institutions being audited, such information may be verbal or written.
In order to undertake technical audit in pursuance of their assignment, the auditors may require the expert assistance of officers of the technical departments.
They may also gather any information useful for the performance of their assignment from private persons and agencies.
Article 14 : State Auditors shall be appointed by decree issued by the President of the Republic upon proposal by the Office of the Auditor General.
Before assuming office, the Auditor General, the Deputy Auditor General arid State Auditors shall swear an oath and receive a special and personal commission from the President of the Republic.
They may, at any time, without restriction and without making use of stamps nor prior payment, communicate by mail the hinterland with any public, or private agencies.
In addition, they are empowered to use a special coding order and receive from the local authorities the material resources meant to facilitate their assignment.
Article 15 : State Auditors are required to perform their duties with rigorous objectivity and observe the strictest professional discipline in addition to professional secret in all cases where this is prescribed by law.
Their independence of judgment shall be statutorily guaranteed : none of them may be sanctioned for their actions or the opinions expressed in the performance of the duties.
They shall be classified outside the civil servants hierarchy and shall by their status, be subject to a special disciplinary framework and shall be responsible only to the President of the Republic through the State Auditor.
Article 16 : Any provisions contrary to this decree shall be abrogated and in particular, those of decree NO. 60-63 of 11 July 1960 establishing the Administrative and Financial Services Permanent Mobile Audit Units.
However, the dissolution of the Permanent Administrative and Financial Services Permanent Audit unit shall be deferred until the effective establishment of the structures of the Office of the Auditor General as defined by the present decree.
Article 17 : The present decree shall be published in the Official Gazette of the Togolese Republic.
N __I/PR/IGE/73
LOME, 3 April 1973
Decree 72-192 of 5 September 1972 established the State Auditor General's Department, defined its structures and set forth its operational rules.
This directive, which shall be published in the Official Gazette, sets forth the conditions under which audit assignments shall be performed and the regulations concerning the preparation of audit reports.
Special directives will spell out the modalities for the participation of the Auditor General in the activities of the Central Government.
1.1 - The Auditor General's Department which falls directly under the President of the Republic, is responsible, exclusively, on behalf of this high authority, for an audit assignment.
Performance of this assignment is incumbent solely on State Auditors under the direction of the Auditor General.
1.2 - The following institutions are subject to the control of the Auditor General's Department:
120 - all State institutions, civil or military, with the exception of the judiciary services in their jurisdictional activity ;
121 - all institutions of secondary communities (administrative constituencies, communes);
122 - all public or semi-public agencies regardless of their legal status or denomination (public establishment - office - association -foundation - semi-public company — State owned company...) ;
123 - all agencies receiving, in whatever form whatsoever, assistance from the State, secondary communities or agencies referred to in paragraph 122 herein above, and those in which the State, a secondary community or one of the agencies mentioned in paragraph 122 herein above holds a participation.
1.3- The Auditor General's Department conducts its audit in the administrative, economic and financial sectors.
This exercise is not only aimed at verifying compliance with Government laws, regulations, directives and decisions, but, above all, at examing the effectiveness of the organisation and operations of the agencies audited, identifying the causes of the shortcomings noted and proposing the necessary remedies.
The audit exercise covers both managerial facts and actions and verifies whether they are proper and expedient.
1.4- The audit undertaken by the Auditor General's Department neither covers acts of the Government nor jurisdictional acts.
It is neither a substitute for the internal audit performed within the agencies audited, nor the technical audit, which may be undertaken in a number of Ministries.
1.5- State Auditors who are exclusively entrusted with an audit mission do not exercise any immediate action on the management or running of the institution being audited ; they do not direct, impede nor suspend any operation and their actions are limited only to drawing attention to Government laws, regulations ; directives and decisions, whose implementation they are to supervise, and collect explanations concerning any anomalies detected.
The only exception to this principle is in the event where the State Auditors detect a deficit or a case of misappropriation of funds.
1.6 In the discharge of their duties, State Auditors are the direct representatives of the President of the Republic from whom they receive a special and personal order (sec specimen in annex).
1.7- With this order, State Auditors are, under all circumstances, adequately empowered to exercise their mandate without having to present any other document.
170- The order, whose content is presented in a manner designed to forestall preventing any difficulty in the performance of assignments, enables State Auditors, inter alia, to :
- have free access to the premises of the agencies falling within the purview of the Republic and those of its contracting parties in order to proceed with the verifications necessary for the performance of their assignment ;
- have access to the stores, cupboards, cash, safes and check and count the content thereof ;
- proceed with any staff checks ;
- carry out spot-checks on any documents, regardless of their classification, in possession of the agency being audited or to collect these documents, against a receipt, with the exception of vouchers of the Accountants and confidential documents which can be forwarded to the Auditor General's Department only by official mail.
- summon or interrogate any person, civil or military, whose hearing is useful for the conduct of the audit;
- monitor the conduct of any operations of the agency being audited ;
- place for safekeeping, and if necessary under seal, the papers and documents meant to be used as proof.
1 71 - Upon presentation of their commission, State Auditors are also entitled to request the help and assistance of any civil and military authorities of the Togolese Republic. It is necessary, not only that these authorities fulfill the requests, which, if necessary, are submitted in the form of a written requesition, but also that they take, in their own field of competence, the necessary steps likely to facilitate the task of the Auditors, and that they issue, accordingly, the necessary directives to their subordinates.
These measures also concern the designation of back-up personnel to participate in the audit exercise (surveys, checks...), the organisation of meetings, forwarding of messages or mail, temporary allocation of offices and the transfer of staff of the secretariat, the possible provision of the means of transport, the opening of guest houses and, generally, the provision of assistance towards the material performance of audit assignments.
The agencies audited through assistance provided by the State are called upon to facilitate the performance of the assignments in the same conditions as the public services.
1.8 - State Auditors are provided with an official type of wet stamp meant to authenticate their signature.
II - PERFORMANCE OF AUDIT ASSIGNMENTS
The basis of the audit performed by the Auditor General's Department is the direct checking of facts on the spot during audit, verification or investigation assignments prescribed by the President of the Republic and enforced in conformity with the following provisions.
2.1 - The President of the Republic decides, by special directives issued to the Auditor General, the permanent or occasional missions entrusted to the Auditor General's Department.
Some of these assignments can be requested from the President of the Republic by a member of Government, such assignments concern an agency under the authority of the latter or placed under its administration.
Permanent assignments are subject to an annual programme, together with a timetable prepared by the Auditor General and submitted for the approval of the President of the Republic.
Occasional assignments are of priority importance and should be performed without delay.
2.2 - A commission is issued in connection with each assignment mentioning the purpose of the assignment, the identity of the head of the mobile audit team and the date of commencement of the assignment.
This commission which is prepared by the Auditor General is signed by the President of the Republic. A copy thereof is submitted to the Minister, under whom the agency or staff being audited is placed, in his capacity as either a superior or a higher authority.
The commission is a confidential document, which is not, under any circumstances, communicated to the staff being audited.
2.3 - The 'mobile audit group' is a temporary unit placed under the authority of a State Auditor ; its composition is adapted to the purpose of the assignment and set forth by a service note issued by the Auditor General.
The audit team may include :
- either the State Auditor, head of the team, acting alone ;
- or several State Auditors whose action is coordinated by the Head of the group; in this case, each of them personifying in the same degree, the controlled delegation of presidential authority vis-a-vis the agencies and the staff audited, is free of his action in the sector allocated to him by the Head of the Group.
- staff at the Auditor General's Office and possibly, technicians ; these staff receive their directives from the Head of the Group or the Auditor to whom the head of the Group attached them; they proceed with special investigations prescribed for them by the commission issued by an Auditor.
2.4 - Upon arrival at the venue of his assignment, the head of the Audit team gives notice of his presence to :
- the head of the administrative district in which the agency to be audited is located,
- the immediate superior of the staff being audited,
- the Principal Official (director, director general, president as the case may be) of the agency being audited where the agency is not State-owned.
This information is provided either in a telegraphic or telephone message or a letter or through a personal visit.
The Auditor is not required to provide to these authorities explanations on the purpose of his assignment and remains the sole judge as to whom he can communicate the purpose of his mission.
As soon as an Auditor reports to an agency, where he has to carry out an audit work, and during the entire duration of his assignment, neither the Head of the agency nor any of the staff servicing there can absent himself from duty except with the prior agreement of the head of the audit team.
2.5 - Upon the presentation of their commission, Auditors can have all the documents; even the confidential ones, communicated to them on the spot or handed over to them as indicated in paragraph 7.0 above.
2.5.0 The investigation powers of the Auditors extend not only to the accounting documents (the accounting of public monies, administrative accounting, material accounting, commercial accounting, etc) and their vouchers but also the various directives or notes on the organisation and functioning of the agency being audited ; in the same vein, all the correspondence received by the agency or forwarded by it should be submitted.
Any refusal to submit the necessary documents is noted in writing, either the staff concerned agrees to justify his refusal and signs his statement, or declines to do so, the Auditor can always draw the attention of the superior of the staff concerned.
2.5.1 Auditors cannot effect by themselves any rectification of any nature whatsoever on the vouchers and documents submitted to them.
They must refrain from issuing any instructions other than the decisions made and the certification aimed at establishing the facts at the time of their arrival.
2.6 - Upon presentation of their commission, State Auditors are authorised to enter the premises of the contracting parties and suppliers of the administration and check all the books, registers, administration and accounting documents, even those classified as confidential in order to assure themselves of compliance with the regulation regarding agreements, contracts and order forms.
They can also verify from private individuals whether all the audit exercises carried out by State Audit Departments were in conformity with the laws and regulations.
2.7 - In order to complement the observations they made on the figures or documents, Auditors call for explanations on the facts and acts, which they audit. These explanations must be provided to them either verbatim or if they do not request so, in writing, either by both the heads of agencies being audited and by the various staff of all categories and rank whose hearing may be useful for the execution of the audit exercises.
Any person of any category or rank whatsoever, who receives a request of this nature shall be required to answer it in a manner as precise and complete as possible given the functions he performs and without advancing the argument of confidentiality to decline to cooperate.
Where the explanations are requested in writing, the Auditors use a special printed form called 'inquiry or information form. This form has the advantage of presenting in a manner, which is as precise and complete as possible the results of their operations and to highlight the replies and observations of the persons interviewed.
The Auditors fix the date on which the replies should reach them and indicate whether the reports should be submitted to them directly of through the superiors. In the latter case, a copy of his response is channelled directly by the officer interviewed to the Auditor who made the request; each step of the administrative hierarchy has only a five-day time frame to express its opinion on the reply.
2.8 - Any cash check is covered by a balanced statement indicating the situation which existed at the beginning of the operations. The Auditor, the cashier and the Head of Department directly responsible sign this statement.
If it is necessary to effect a rectification either following an error or omission or on any other grounds, the Auditor mentions it in his report.
2.8.0 Any serious incident, especially any discovery of deficit should be brought immediately to the knowledge of the Auditor General who shall bring it immediately to the knowledge of the President of the Republic. The Auditor, who is head of the Audit Group, submits, to this end, a brief report to the Auditor General in which he highlights the findings and the steps which were taken ; in case of emergency the telegraphic or telephone channel should be used.
2.8.1 In the event where a deficit is noted, the Auditor, who is Head of the Audit Group, must draw the attention of the superior of the Accountant to it and take, as the case may be, all the necessary measures including the affixing of the seals to ensure the security of public monies, securities and materials. In case of emergency, the head of audit team suspends the Accountant provisionally subject to informing immediately the Accountant's superior officer about it. The final suspension can take place only by the authority vested with the power of appointment of the Accountant.
2.8.2 In the event where irregularities are noted, the Auditor General, upon the report of the Head of the audit group, may ask the superior of the staff concerned for the immediate and temporary replacement of the staff.
3.1 - Any assignment carried out by a State Auditor shall be covered by an 'audit report'.
A report is mainly a sequence of observations, since the observation is itself an objective and precise discovery of a shortcoming, in general, which does not conform to regulations or which reflects the shortcomings in the performance of duties.
Thus, in a precise and concise manner devoid of excessive information, the facts or irregularities are most often outlined and presented in the annexes with a view to reducing the thickness of the text of the report. The irregularities are however presented thereafter and form an integral part of the main report.
Each report is preceded by a detailed summary. The observations bear numbers in order to facilitate the references, the date of commencement of each operation is indicated therein.
The introduction which precedes the presentation of the observations recalls the purpose of the mission and presents the department audited in order to provide adequate information about it and make it possible to understand the observations within the framework of the activity of the agency being audited.
The end of the report, contains a conclusion which provides an opinion on the functioning of the agency audited, it proposes appropriate measures to improve or rectify any anomaly noted ; in the event of irregularities, blame should be apportioned in order to facilitate the setting in motion of disciplinary procedures with financial or penal implications.
Documents attached, which are not prepared by the Auditors, can supplement the report as additional information ; they are in general, made up of copies or photocopies of the documents examined during the audit exercise and the brief or notes prepared by the technicians in the Audit Group.
3.2- The observations are subjected to a check and balances procedure ; in other words, all criticisms without exception should be communicated to the staff against whom a reservation is being made. The latter are required to answer each of the reservations.
The staff has up to fifteen days, with effect from the day of receipt of the reservations, to provide a reply.
Observations concerning a senior officer must never be communicated to the junior staff.
3.3 - Based on the replies to his observations, the Auditor prepares his report, concerning, if he deems it expedient, his remarks or new observations in the light of the replies he had received.
3.4- If the author of a report is compelled to highlight issues of principle and, particularly, make criticisms or proposals concerning the regulation in force, a special note which is distinct from the report is prepared ; this note is not subject to the checks and balances procedure.
3.5 - Where an audit mission did not make any significant observations 'an audit sheet' is used instead of the audit report. A copy of the sheet is submitted to the head of the institution audited for information purposes. The head of the institution is not required to react to the information on this sheet.
Likewise, where the audit exercise is limited to a cash count and did not culminate in observations, only a 'cash count report' is prepared.
3.6- Where a mobile audit group is composed of several State Auditors which has audited distinct sections of an institution, each of the State Auditors prepares a special report highlighting its observations which are subjected to the checks and balance procedure.
In this case, the Head of the Audit Group prepares a summary report including a special report as annex.
3.7 - The final report is submitted to the President of the Republic through the Auditor General who attaches to it his appreciation and makes proposals concerning the exploitation of the result.
3.8 - The content of the report is disseminated by the Auditor General according to the directives of the President of the Republic either by the distribution of the full report or sections thereof or summaries highlighting the anomalies detected and the author's conclusions which he has submitted to the each of the authorities concerned.
The authorities to whom these reports are submitted are required, within a maximum period of one month, to inform the President of the Republic, through the Auditor General, on the immediate reaction to the observations of the Auditor General and possibly, the longer term measures being considered.
3.9 - Each year, the Auditor General prepares for the President of the Republic a report on the activities of the Auditor General's Department and the follow-up actions taken in connection with its interventions.
SIGNED :
General E. EYADEMA
ANNEX N° l TO GENERAL DIRECTIVE N° l/PR/IGE/73 OF 3 APRIL (973 CONCERNING THE GENERAL AUDITOR'S COMMISSION
We, President of the Republic, in conformity with the provisions of decree n°72-192 of September 1972 establishing the Auditor General's Department,
Commission Mr.
- to proceed, at any time, without let or hindrance, in departments and agencies falling within the authority of Togolese Republic or to which the Republic provides its support, with inquiries, audit or verification assignments to be entrusted to him by our instructions ;
- to summon and interrogate any civil or military officer ; to undertake any staff review ; to carry out or ensure any audit exercise that it shall deem expedient, to cause the seals to be affixed, where necessary, on any dossiers, registers or enclosures ;
- to request the military or civil authority of the place where it is exercising its mandate to issue any directives necessary for the conduct of its inquiries and audit and verifications including directives pertaining to the supply of material resources likely to facilitate the performance of the assignment.
Consequently, to the requisition of Mr. bearer of this commission,
WE INVITE all Ministers, Secretaries of State to facilitate the performance of his assignment.
ENJOIN :
All district heads, directors and heads of departments, heads and directors of public agencies and establishments placed under our authority or supervision to grant access to their offices, stores, workshops, or other premises and their cash boxes, to make available to him any documents, information and explanations which are requested from them including those classified as confidential.
All Heads and Directors of private agencies to which the Togolese Republic provides its assistance or co-contracting parties of its administration to grant him access to their stores, workshops, work sites and other premises and make available to him their books, ledgers, administration and accounting documents even those classified as confidential.
ORDER any civil and military authority of the Togolese Republic to recognise and assist Mr in his capacity as our direct delegate in the exercise of his functions, to provide him with any help and assistance that he may require, and to provide him access to any agency falling within the authority of the Togolese Republic upon the presentation of this commission.
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Lome, this Day |
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| Signature of bearer |
President of the Republic |
