The acting Director of Operations at the Internal Audit Agency (IAA), Mr. Nathan Yankey, cited the growing number of syndicated fraud and cyber crime cases has necessitated the relevance of internal audit in Public Financial Management (PFM).
According to him, the internal audit unit do not remain oblivious to the looming challenges posed by such devious acts and that they are repositioning themselves to create more robust and formidable mechanisms and controls to impede the use of technology to pilfer resources set aside for development.
‘’We face terrible problems from these technology-related cyber miscreants but we believe sharpening the skills of internal audit players would strengthen the base to plug out those loopholes”.
Mr. Nathan Yankey
The five-day workshop was organized to improve the management skills in internal auditing practice of the secretariat of Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme, staff of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) and officials of the Department of Social Welfare.
Also at the workshop was Mr. Myles Ongoh, the Assistant Director, LEAP Programme, who staunchly described the lukewarm attitude and negligence on the part of internal auditors as one liable to aggravate the fight against corruption.
He said enterprise risk management, fiscal transparency and accountability should be underpinned by stronger cash management, spending, execution and budget monitoring.
The principal Accountant at the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MOGCSP), Alhaji Ibrahim Yahaya, said training and retraining had kept participants updated on reforms being undertaken in respect of budget implementation, payroll sanctity, and internal audit procurement.
Mrs. Stella Agbezuhlor Mawutor, the Volta Regional Director of Social Welfare, said personal judgment was not enough to take pragmatic decisions hence the need to constantly upgrade one’s skills on critical areas such as ERM and negotiations.
‘’Let’s not take for granted that we know it all but let’s be open to learn new skills to strengthen our capacities”.
Mrs. Stella Agbezuhlor Mawutor
In an interview, the head of Communication of LEAP programme, Mr. Colson Akanbasiam, iterated the development of a risk register, which is in a draft stage, is expected to profile all conceivable risks to guide and guard against leakages, to trigger control and pre-emptive actions to curb corruption.
He was of the opinion that risks profiling of all internal audit units would ensure value for money based on understanding of the existing law and the use of scientific approaches to reduce adverse findings, which usually are anti-climax.
Some participants in attendance said the lessons learnt would practically impact on their work schedules and improve the quality of internal auditing in all Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
Topics discussed for the workshop include enterprise risk management, public financial management, soft skills in negotiation, and internal audit value addition and action plan preparation.
