The Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic of Colombia () is a Colombian independent government institution that acts as the highest form of fiscal control in the country. As such, it has a mission to seek the proper allocation of resources and public funds and contribute to the modernization of the state, by means of continuous improvement in the various public entities. It is one of the Colombian Control Institutions along with the Office of the Inspector General of Colombia.

History

In 1923, after several years of financial crisis, President Pedro Nel Ospina requested an expert committee to study Colombian economic conditions. This committee, led by American economist

Edwin Walter Kemmerer Edwin Walter Kemmerer (June 29, 1875 – December 16, 1945) was an American economist, who became famous as an economic adviser to foreign governments in many countries (Philippines, Mexico, Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of ...

(referred to in an expression of the time as a money doctor) was called the Kemmerer Mission. Kemmerer had already worked with Latin American governments; that of

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in 1917 and of

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

in 1919. Up until then the Court of Auditors () was the accountability agency of the nation, it was an agency of

judicial The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

and fiscal nature, but it was part of the

Executive Branch The executive branch is the part of government which executes or enforces the law. Function The scope of executive power varies greatly depending on the political context in which it emerges, and it can change over time in a given country. In ...

. A study led by the Kemmerer Mission, with the assistance of the Colombian

Finance Minister A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

Esteban Jaramillo, recommended Congress to create the Bank of the Republic, and the Office of the Comptroller General, and to structure the laws for this function using those already existing. The Kemmerer Mission recommended the creation of the Office of the Comptroller General after considering that it could establish the necessary means for imposing a strict observance of the laws and administrative norms in the management of resources and public funds. Government introduced new legislation in

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

following the recommendations of the Kemmerer Mission. ''Law 42 of 1923'' was passed by Congress and signed by the

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the Speaker (politics), speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's Order of succession, succes ...

Luis de Greiff and the President of the Chamber of Representatives Ignacio Moreno. The new law was approved and signed by President Nel Ospina and his Minister of Finance Gabriel Posada, and finally ratified by Congress on July 19, 1923. The Office of the Comptroller General began functioning on September 1, 1923, when Law 42 took effect. The first Comptroller General of the Republic was Eugenio Andrade, who was appointed by President Ospina. The current Comptroller General is Carlos Felipe Córdoba Larrarte.

References

{{Authority control Government agencies established in 1923 Colombian Control Institutions Supreme audit institutions