The Internal Auditors Association Ghana (IAAG) has called for an amendment of the law backing the financial markets.
Technical Director of the Internal Auditors Association Ghana, Benjamin Adjetey, reiterated the importance of an independent internal auditing process.
“What the Internal Audit Agency does is that we play an oversight role over the work that they do. We ensure the quality of their work. We give them capacity when the need arises, etc. Now, that has not been effective because as staff of their various institutions, the key challenge is the independence of the internal audit unit and the objectivity of the internal audit staff. That is the big challenge that we are facing. And so if the act is amended, and the internal auditors are no more staff of the institutions where they are working, then they will have the free hand to do the work professionally without fear,” he submitted.
The auditors want the Internal Audit Agency Act, 2003 (Act 658) amended to enable auditors within government agencies perform their duties decently.
At the sidelines of a sensitization workshop on ‘Restructuring Public Sector Internal Auditing’, Mr. Adjetey further stated:
“It’s about giving our staff a lot more exposure and making sure that a lot more capacity building is done for them; training in various areas of resource utilisation, and make sure that they can hold the officers accountable for the resources under them. It’s about making sure that we help them and assure quality in the work that they do. Once quality assurance, which is a whole issue in our profession, is adhered to, the result therefore will be better than it is now.”
For Chief Internal Auditor of the Ministry of Energy, Ernest Boateng Wiafe, although the IAAG desires the Internal Auditors in the MDAs to join the Internal Auditing Agency, because the Local Government Service has an Enabling Act, which gives them the right to recruit their own people, there’s a challenge requiring a need to look at the act.
“Committees have been set to look at the two Acts, a way they can amend it for them to come under the Agency. So when we are all under the Agency, training will not be a problem because the Agency can organise training for us. When it comes to motivational issues, they can handle it. But here’s the case, we’re all scattered. So, the restructuring will put everybody under the Agency,” he reiterated.
The Internal Auditors Association Ghana (IAAG) and the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) Ghana are hopeful that a reformation of the Internal Audit space will position the IAA to effectively execute its mandate and promote the effective use of public resources.
Michael Eli Dokosi/goldstreetbusiness.com
