Paphos, Cyprus. Acting Paphos mayor Angelos Onisiforou said he has asked Auditor-General Andreas Papaconstantinou to carry out an audit of the municipality. The audit office said it intends to investigate after receiving complaints related to the municipality.
Request for municipal audit
Onisiforou said he informed the auditor-general that he sent a letter from the Paphos municipality requesting the required audits. Speaking to television channel Ant1, he said the audit office knows how to do its job and added that he did not know whether it had information itself.
Audit office response
Audit office spokeswoman Yiota Michael told television channel Sigma that the office had received complaints in relation to the Paphos municipality and was processing their content. She said the office was awaiting instructions from the auditor-general on how to proceed and confirmed it would investigate.
Michael said she could not yet say when any audit would start and end, or what it would entail. She said the office would proceed carefully and take appropriate actions based on the auditor-general’s instructions.
Background to leadership change
Onisiforou’s letter came less than a week after he took over leadership of the Paphos municipality following the formal removal of elected mayor Phedonas Phedonos last Thursday. Phedonos was removed after being accused of domestic abuse and rape.
Phedonos’ suspension will end when legal proceedings regarding the allegations against him have concluded.
Interior ministry concerns over municipal secretary
After Phedonos was suspended, local reports said the interior ministry had been concerned that municipal secretary Themis Philippides, 72, continued to perform his duties after being placed on pre-retirement leave last year.
The interior ministry’s director of local government affairs, Antonis Economides, said on Friday that Philippides should have been removed from his duties two weeks earlier and taken his leave cumulatively.
What steps do you think should be taken to ensure transparency in the municipality’s operations?