By Rebecca Ekpe.
The Internal Audit Agency has been recognized for enforcement of internal controls at the Ghana Intergrity Awards 2021 organized by the Ghana Integrity Initiative, GII in Accra as part of efforts at fighting corruption in Ghana.
After the event, the Director General of the Internal Audit Agency, Dr. Eric Oduro-Osae had an exclusive interview with GBC News where he outlined the reasons why he believed that the IAA has been recognized for its internal control mechanisms, explaining its critical role in preventing corruption. He also disclosed that the Ghana Audit Agency has seen an upward adjustment in its Budget, ”Ghs 6.9m in 2021 to Ghs7.9m in 2022”.
New IAA
According to Dr Oduro Osae, a number of achievements led to the recognition.
”Our work led to a reduction in infractions reported by the Auditor-General in the 2020 Audit reports by 32%, 34%, 38% and 92% for MDAs, MMDAs, DACF and Technical Universities respectively.”
He said, ”new Internal Audit Service is in the offing which will restructure and reposition public sector internal auditing for objectivity and independence.”
Furthermore, ”the passage of the new law will also bring all public sector internal auditors under a new Internal Audit Service and also rationalize conditions of service of internal auditors and bring it at par with their colleagues at the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD), Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and other similar revenue or anti-corruption institutions in Ghana.”
Dr. Oduro Osae pointed out that, ”with the adoption of the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) in the management of public finances, the Agency in positioning itself as an important corruption prevention institution is automating public sector internal audit with the development of an Audit Management Information System (AMIS) to help internal auditors use Computer Aided Audit Techniques (CAATS) to audit and analyze transactions through the GIFMIS and stop irregular transactions midstream.”
Besides, ”the Agency is also working with the GIFMIS Secretariat to give access to internal auditors into the system to stop irregular transactions midstream.”
”The direct activities of IAA, Audit Committees and Internal Auditors across the country through follow-ups and insistence on good control systems saved Ghana over GHS 387 million.”
The Internal Audit Agency is all focused on Risk processes, according to Dr. Oduro Osae.
”The IAA is also working to mainstream Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) processes in the operations of all public institutions.”
”The IAA and Government is moving public sector internal auditing from conventional pre-auditing to Risk-based internal auditing in accordance with international best practice with the country’s adoption of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).”
In line with this, “Government is focusing more on preventing corruption through strengthening internal audit and control systems across the public sector.”
Regarding Budget, he said, ”the Agency’s annual budget has increased from Ghs6.9m in 2021 to Ghs7.9m in 2022.”
And to ensure compliance, Dr. Oduro said the agency has, ”resorted to naming and shaming institutions that fail to comply with standard PFM requirements under the PFM Act 2016 (Act 921). The Agency has in the past years caused this publication to be made and followed up with the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to ensure that funds and releases of defaulting institutions are withheld until they comply.”
Besides, ”the Agency is also working with EOCO to prosecute persons and institutions found culpable in quarterly internal audit reports submitted by internal auditors across the country.”
Future of IAA
On What the award means to the IAA and the future, Dr. Oduro Osae expressed optimism about the work, but noted that the hard work and measure must be sustained.
”To the IAA, the award means a recognition of our efforts as holding public officers, institutions and duty bearers responsible and accountable to implement good internal control systems in the management of public funds”.
”It also serves as a motivation to internal auditors and audit committees of all public institutions that their efforts at ensuring that the sound assurance and advisory service given to heads of public institutions are yielding results”.
Above all, Dr. Oduro Osae said the Agency is better placed and challenged to step up to the plate.
”The award has challenged us to work extra harder in our gatekeeping role of preventing corruption before it occurs”.
”Suffice to say that of all the anti- corruption institutions in the country, the role of internal auditors is critical because of the preventive approach it adopts in the fight against corruption.”
Fighting Corruption as collective responsibility
In the views of some who are pessimistic about the fight against corruption, the IAA Director General points out that fighting corruption is a collective effort.
”All I have to tell them is, they should not give up, corruption is a joint fight. It’s fight should not be left for the government alone, citizens, State institutions, media and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and all of us have a role to play in the fight against corruption”.
”Except that a lot depends on our ability to enforce and implement our laws. I must say that some of our laws are also obsolete and affect the fight against corruption.”
Dr. Oduro Osae did not mince words in suggesting practical ways to win the fight against corruption in Ghana.
”If we will be bold to decouple the Office of the Attorney General from the Ministry of Justice, repeal the Internal Audit Agency(IAA) into a new Internal Audit Service Act to make Internal Auditors more independent and objective in the performance of their functions as a corruption prevention institution, set up an PFM Court to speedily try corruption cases and develop a national reorientation system to orient Ghanaians (especially) the youth on the harmful effect of corruption as well as passing the National Anti-Corruption Action Plan, NACAP into a binding law, we can make a lot of inroads in the fight against corruption,” Dr. Oduro Osae posited.
