By Edmund Mingle
The Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur has expressed worry about the deteriorating image of the auditing profession in the public sector, and urged the auditing community to work to change the trend.
He said the highly respectable image which the profession exuded in the past, could be restored by ensuring strict adherence to standards to check financial discipline in public sector institutions.
Vice President Amissah-Arthur said this when he opened the 9th Annual Internal Audit Forum organised by Internal Audit Agency (IAA) in Accra yesterday under the theme, “Improving governance in the public sector”.
He cited the situation in the past where public sector auditors were virtually feared by heads and directors of public institutions because of their strictness and readiness to expose rot in financial management, indicating that the situation was currently the reverse, where some auditors did not perform as required for fear of victimisation.
“Now, public sector managers either ignore audit queries or respond to them late,” he said, noting that the situation had led to financial malpractices exposed in the many financial audit reports on public accounts.
“There is an urgent need for adequacy in internal controls to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of public institutions,” he said.
The Vice President said the presence of effective and strict internal financial controls was a vital way to achieve good governance in the public sector and called for support and cooperation for internal auditors from heads of institutions to help in eradicating inefficiencies and ensuring quality management of financial resources.
He commended auditors for their contribution to national development, and urged them to continue to adhere to the tenets of the profession by promoting transparency and accountability, as well as strictly applying the rules and procedures.
The two-day forum, which is being attended by heads of public institutions, professional auditors across the country, is aimed at finding ways of improving internal auditing in the public service towards promoting good governance.
Nii Adumansa-Baddoo, Chairman of Internal Audit Agency Board, who chaired the opening session, noted that good governance in the public sector, was about systematic and sustainable performance improvement.
He said good governance generally covers all aspects of the way a country is governed, including its economic policies and regulatory framework saying “good governance is much more than rules, regulations, accountability, structures and frame-works”.
He said the end product of good governance among other things, includes the availability of basic services such as clean potable water, good road network, quality education, social security, equal opportunities and justice for all irrespective of social status.
Nii Adumansa-Baddoo announced that the agency with assistance from Africa Development Bank was developing a modular training manual in performance Audit for workers in the public sector, saying ”the manual will be used to train 500 internal auditors on performance audit.”
Mr. Kwabena Obese Jecty, Director-General of IAA said internal audit had a critical role to play in the governance process, explaining that “as the third line of defence in the corporate risk management arrangements, the primary focus of the internal auditor is to help the management of organization perform their functions”.
He bemoaned the use of transfers and postings of internal auditors in the public sector as a means of punishment of auditors who did expose wrongdoing, saying the practice was retrogressive.
The Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur has expressed worry about the deteriorating image of the auditing profession in the public sector, and urged the auditing community to work to change the trend.
He said the highly respectable image which the profession exuded in the past, could be restored by ensuring strict adherence to standards to check financial discipline in public sector institutions.
Vice President Amissah-Arthur said this when he opened the 9th Annual Internal Audit Forum organised by Internal Audit Agency (IAA) in Accra yesterday under the theme, “Improving governance in the public sector”.
He cited the situation in the past where public sector auditors were virtually feared by heads and directors of public institutions because of their strictness and readiness to expose rot in financial management, indicating that the situation was currently the reverse, where some auditors did not perform as required for fear of victimisation.
“Now, public sector managers either ignore audit queries or respond to them late,” he said, noting that the situation had led to financial malpractices exposed in the many financial audit reports on public accounts.
“There is an urgent need for adequacy in internal controls to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of public institutions,” he said.
The Vice President said the presence of effective and strict internal financial controls was a vital way to achieve good governance in the public sector and called for support and cooperation for internal auditors from heads of institutions to help in eradicating inefficiencies and ensuring quality management of financial resources.
He commended auditors for their contribution to national development, and urged them to continue to adhere to the tenets of the profession by promoting transparency and accountability, as well as strictly applying the rules and procedures.
The two-day forum, which is being attended by heads of public institutions, professional auditors across the country, is aimed at finding ways of improving internal auditing in the public service towards promoting good governance.
Nii Adumansa-Baddoo, Chairman of Internal Audit Agency Board, who chaired the opening session, noted that good governance in the public sector, was about systematic and sustainable performance improvement.
He said good governance generally covers all aspects of the way a country is governed, including its economic policies and regulatory framework saying “good governance is much more than rules, regulations, accountability, structures and frame-works”.
He said the end product of good governance among other things, includes the availability of basic services such as clean potable water, good road network, quality education, social security, equal opportunities and justice for all irrespective of social status.
Nii Adumansa-Baddoo announced that the agency with assistance from Africa Development Bank was developing a modular training manual in performance Audit for workers in the public sector, saying ”the manual will be used to train 500 internal auditors on performance audit.”
Mr. Kwabena Obese Jecty, Director-General of IAA said internal audit had a critical role to play in the governance process, explaining that “as the third line of defence in the corporate risk management arrangements, the primary focus of the internal auditor is to help the management of organization perform their functions”.
He bemoaned the use of transfers and postings of internal auditors in the public sector as a means of punishment of auditors who did expose wrongdoing, saying the practice was retrogressive.
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