Program News

PROMOTION x2

Epimaque Kanyankore (Rwanda, 2018-19) tells CAAF that, since his Fellowship just last year, he has already been promoted twice. He says that thanks to the auditing knowledge and leadership skills he gained, he has been able to demonstrate his capabilities to management and was promoted first to Senior Principal Auditor and now to acting Audit Manager.

WIDE-RANGING EXPERIENCES

Jorge da Silva (Brazil, 1984-85) is currently the Chief Audit Executive of the Inter-American Development Bank Group, in Washington DC, with overall responsibility for all internal audit activity within the IDB Group. A few years after his Fellowship, his career brought him back to Canada, first as an internal auditor in the private sector, and then in progressive audit-related roles in the federal government where he remained for many years, prior to joining the IDB. “Nothing like that would have happened without taking part in the Fellowship program,” he tells us.

HEADING THE FORENSIC AUDIT UNIT

After developing her Fellowship project on enhancing the effectiveness of her SAI’s Forensic Audit Unit, Chandrawattie Samaroo (Guyana, 2008-09) was asked to head the Unit and to implement the strategies outlined in her paper. Over five years in the unit, she investigated many fraud cases and trained new staff. In that role, she tells us, she also “had the challenging experience of attending court to give evidence in matters which were investigated and brought before the court. These were proud moments.”

TAKING ON MANY ROLES

Following her Fellowship, Jaruwan Ruangswadipong (Thailand, 2000-01) took on many different roles over 15 years at her SAI—from initiating improvements to the performance audit methodology and designing and delivering training courses, to working in the Human Resources Development Office and directing the Research Office.

SERVING AS DEPUTY MINISTER

Abdellatif Chebbi (Tunisia, 1999-00) applied knowledge and skills from his Fellowship at his SAI and when he was appointed Chef de Cabinet to Tunisia’s Minister of Defense, a position equivalent to deputy minister which he held for 12 years: “My time at CAAF allowed me to encourage value-for-money [performance auditing] at the Cour des Comptes and to strengthen my management and leadership skills and therefore succeed in my duties as Chef de Cabinet to six Ministers of Defense.”

RECOGNIZED FOR HER CONTRIBUTIONS

Lilliam Marín (Costa Rica, 2009-10) tells us that her Fellowship “allowed me to support the Office of the Comptroller General of Costa Rica in improving the standards, techniques and practices of performance audit.” As the Area Manager for her SAI’s audits on environment and energy, she tried out innovative procedures in the many audits she led, then used that experience to help the SAI develop its performance audit methodology and to deliver training for other audit teams. In recognition of her role in advancing performance audit, the SAI presented her with its excellence award in performance audit in 2013 and 2014.

STRENGTHENING THE PERFORMANCE AUDIT PRACTICE

As senior leaders at their SAI, Bachchu Ram Dahal (Nepal, 2001-02), who served as Deputy Auditor General and Acting Auditor General, and Ram Babu Nepal (Nepal, 1994-95), who served as Assistant Auditor General and authored a book on performance auditing, both helped further performance auditing in Nepal. They tell us they contributed to enhancing the SAI’s performance audit practices by developing guidelines and providing training, drawing on principles and tools they learned from CAAF and their Fellowship placements.

COORDINATING DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS

As his SAI’s General Director of Technical Cooperation, Ahmed Ashaybani (Yemen, 1993-94) has been the focal point for organizational development activities and the coordinator for the SAI’s cooperation with international donors. Thanks to his Fellowship, he says, “I was equipped with the knowledge, skills and experience to situate me to lead a great deal of institutional development of my organization.”

FIRST STRATEGIC PLAN

Abdoul Madjib Gueye (Senegal, 2001-02) is the President of one of the chambers at Senegal’s SAI, the Cour des Comptes. He tells CAAF he has been involved in directing many significant projects there, including the development of the SAI’s first strategic plan, and has supervised audits on critical topics such as health, agriculture, rural electrification and water and sanitation.

LEADING THE REGION’S FIRST PERFORMANCE AUDITS

Huong Pham (Vietnam, 2009-10) is the deputy head of her division, working at the SAI’s regional office in Can Tho. Following her Fellowship, she became the leader of the regional office’s first performance audits and has shared her knowledge with colleagues through training courses and during audits. “So far, the thing I’m most proud of,” she says, “is I planned and conducted the district budget management audit, which was well-recognized by my office management and local officials.”

ERADICATING GUINEA WORM DISEASE

Lawrence Ndaago Ayagiba (Ghana, 2009-10) was recently appointed Deputy Auditor General and Henry Kwadjo Missah (Ghana, 2007-08) retired as Assistant Auditor General in 2016. They implemented new practices at Ghana’s SAI for planning audits and documenting evidence, based on their respective Fellowship projects. These practices came into play in an audit they both worked on, on the provision of safe drinking water to rural communities. Their audit led the World Bank to provide funding for improved water treatment and resulted in increased rural water coverage, says Mr. Ayagiba, and “within two years, guinea worm disease was eradicated in Ghana.”

BRINGING ISSUES TO LIGHT

Alberta Owoo (Ghana, 2010-11) also led a memorable audit in Ghana, on the administration of a scholarship program. She recalls that “the publication of the report led to a lot of discussions in the media and the public space as the audit revealed that the scholarship administrators were not following due diligence in granting scholarships” and in fact many people who were not in need had benefited from the program.

AUDITING THE SDGs

Narjess Sellami (Tunisia, 2002-03) is coordinating her SAI’s work on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and recently supervised an audit on Tunisia’s preparedness to implement the SDGs. She tells us that the government took the findings of this audit into account when preparing its Voluntary National Review for the UN.

PROVIDING EXPERTISE TO A REGIONAL PROJECT

Georges Valery Onana Ebode (Cameroon, 2015-16) is currently a senior auditor and thematic and knowledge management expert for a project that is building the capacity of SAIs to audit extractive industries in Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Mali and Madagascar. In this role he mentored the teams who successfully conducted these countries’ very first performance and compliance audits on the mining sector.

CONDUCTING HIGH-PROFILE AUDITS

Mohamed Hadhoudi (Morocco, 1986-87) recently retired from Morocco’s Cour des comptes as Magistrat de grade exceptionnel et Président de chambre (equivalent to Deputy Auditor General). During his career, he conducted several high-profile audits, including one specially commissioned by the King on a major regional development program. He tells us this audit received a great deal of attention, led to the dismissal of several ministers and officials, and resulted in more rigor in monitoring programs at the national and local level.