Rwanda's Auditor General, Alexis Kamuhire, has said that the country has accomplished commendable work in managing donor-funded health programmes, attributing the success to the guidance of the country's leadership to strive for excellence and ensure accountability.
He was speaking during the International Roundtable on Accountability in Donor-Funded Health Programs, on September 5 at Kigali Serena Hotel.
Organised in partnership with the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) Rwanda, Aidspan, BACKUP Health, and representatives from the Global Fund and Gavi, the three-day roundtable aims to foster a comprehensive dialogue on the topic of accountability in donor-funded health programmes.
Rwanda's progress prompted the organisers to choose Kigali as the host city for the roundtable event, according to Kamuhire.
He emphasised that the initiatives help the participants to enhance the quality of life for citizens in their respective countries by innovating the traditional methods of operation, drawing inspiration from Rwanda's experience.
"Some of the actions do not require a lot of resources. It is just a matter of enhancing country ownership and how we collaborate with different partners," he noted. "Our responsibility as auditors is to ensure that at least the investment that we are making in the health sector is of value to our people."
Kamuhire further noted that when auditing funds in the health sector, AOG ensures proper accounting and positive impacts on people's lives.
He expressed a commitment to do even more in the future and appreciated the support of different donors including the Global Fund.
Adda Faye, the chief financial Officer at Global Fund, praised Rwanda as an exemplary model in the management of Global Fund-funded programmes, emphasising that every visit to Rwanda represents a collaborative mission, during which she learns valuable insights that can be applied elsewhere.
"Rwanda should be proud of what they have established in terms of accountability, auditing, assurance, and management oversight. Other countries and SAIs can learn from this experience. We look forward to continuing supporting countries to have the capacity, processes, and independence to be able to provide assurance to their own country programmes and be held accountable for the sake of the people we serve," she said.
Edmond Shoko-Lekhuleni, the Technical Manager at AfroSAI in South Africa, commended Rwanda's Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) for its exemplary performance, noting that they have been working with Rwanda for the third time due to the institution's consistent delivery of results.
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He emphasised AOG Rwanda's service delivery in the public sector and how other SAIs are learning from Rwanda's success in this regard.
Regarding accountability, he mentioned that AfroSAI relies on moral suasion among member countries to ensure compliance, as they are a voluntary institution, and highlighted the need for "true" partnership among various organisations, including Global Fund, Afro-SAI, GAVI, and Aidspan, to achieve mutual benefits and avoid unilateral dictation.
Huzeifa Bodal, representative of GIZ Backup Health, highlighted Rwanda as a successful participant in their capacity development project, which involved national auditor generals' auditing programmatic aspects in addition to financial ones.
He said the shift in audit practices was seen as a positive change, as it allowed countries to take more ownership of grants from global health initiatives.
When asked about challenges other countries face in adopting a similar approach, Bodal emphasised the importance of strong foundational systems, including robust national assurance systems and solid financial audits, before building capacity for programmatic and performance audits.
Bodal praised Rwanda for having the foundations in place and expressed excitement about the progress.
