Business News of Tuesday, 17 August 2021
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
2021-08-17
Dr Eric Oduro Osae, Director-General of the Internal Audit Agency
•The Internal Audit Agency is advocating for more powers to protect the public purse
•Dr Osae believes the move will also foster independence and objectivity of internal auditors
•There is currently a Bill proposal before the Finance Ministry which is under consideration
Director-General of the Internal Audit Agency, Dr. Eric Oduro Osae, has called for powers to be given to his outfit, in the form of service, as part efforts to protect the public purse.
According to him, the move will ensure the independence and objectivity of internal auditors will be cemented under a proposed Internal Audit Service.
In an interaction on Citi TV’s Point of View segment monitored by GhanaWeb, Dr Osae explained a proposed Internal Audit Service will ensure that all internal auditors will work autonomously.
“When they are scattered like that, they are subject to different conditions of services and the people they are expected to check are the same people who determine their conditions of service, so then it becomes extremely difficult for them to act,” Dr. Osae said.
“Once it becomes a service, all these internal auditors will be under the service, so then they can have the required independence and objectivity to protect the government,” Dr. Osae said.
He however argued that infractions cited in recent audit reports released by the Auditor General are often flagged by internal auditors prior to the release of the documentation but are unable to implement any actions on their findings.
The Director-General of the Internal Audit Agency however revealed that there is Bill currently under consideration with the Ministry of Finance for the proposal of setting up an Internal Audit Service.
The IAA has the oversight responsibility to conduct audit for public service institutions with the objective to co-ordinate, facilitate and provide quality assurance for internal audit activities within the Ministries, Departments and Agencies and the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.