Anti-corruption campaigner and Chairperson of the African Union Advisory Board Against Corruption, Mr. Kwami Edem Senanu, has argued that the current structure of Ghana’s internal audit system is one of the major reasons for the increasing corruption-related cases witnessed in many public institutions.
Mr. Senanu emphasized that the current arrangement subjects internal auditors to having to play by the wishes of the authorities of the institutions in which they are stationed.
He noted that due to how these internal auditors are being paid by the same institutions they ought to audit, they are often made to have to overlook many issues that are often detected by the external auditors.
“I have been highlighting how we have a situation where our auditors are paid by the institutions that they are auditing. We need to change that system because what is it that the paymaster determines their privileges and perks and their salaries at the end of the month?”
Mr. Kwami Edem Senanu, Anti-corruption campaigner and Chairperson of the African Union Advisory Board Against Corruption
Mr. Senanu argued that keeping these individuals under the control of these institutions goes to undermine the very reason why they are needed, emphasizing that they must be decoupled to ensure the integrity of their work.
“Even if they would highlight issues, the compulsion, the proactiveness, with which they will follow up on issues identified, is weakened by the fact that they have their hands in the mouth of these same institutions they accept.
“We should have a situation where the payments for such internal auditors are not made by the institution that they are monitoring or reviewing themselves. Otherwise, that defeats the whole purpose of trying to separate them.”
Mr. Kwami Edem Senanu, Anti-corruption campaigner and Chairperson of the African Union Advisory Board Against Corruption
He further argued that the internal auditors’ perpetual stays under the control of the very institutions they are supposed to audit is the very reason why the issue of payroll fraud has become a reoccurring phenomenon.
He emphasized that if the internal auditors fail to perform their responsibilities of being a constant check on the institutions they are stationed at, the auditor general’s work will not be sufficient to combat payroll fraud, as it is an annual activity.
“The internal audit system is supposed to make sure that in between the external auditors annually, the internal auditors pick up these issues and ensure that they clamp down on it.
“Because that system is failing, we keep seeing it.So, we need to look at our internal audit system currently and make sure they are not being paid by the same institutions that they are auditing. Otherwise, our institutional arrangement defeats the outcome we are trying to achieve.”
Mr. Kwami Edem Senanu, Anti-corruption campaigner and Chairperson of the African Union Advisory Board Against Corruption
Ethical Failure and Specialized Courts
Mr. Senanu also argued that the issues of payroll fraud and, for that matter, corruption in public institutions area result of people not being guided by established ethical standards.
He made the point that such public officials who engage in such acts of corruption often abandon the ethical standards that ought to regulate their behavior, noting that the countries that progress are the ones that uphold their moral values.
“For most of the jurisdictions and places where you find that there is a lot of progress, it is on the back of a core set of values. It means that the leadership have values of honesty, of hard work, and of integrity, and that they will not put them aside because they have a personal interest or a private gain they are seeking to achieve.”
Mr. Kwami Edem Senanu, Anti-corruption campaigner and Chairperson of the African Union Advisory Board Against Corruption
He noted that some of these unethical conducts are the reason for the proposal of the new National Ethics and Anti-Corruption Action Plan. This plan, as he indicated, is supposed to ensure that as a society we promote a set of core ethical values that regulate behavior.
“If you have a strong ethical framework or set of values, you will not find individuals who just, you know, put aside what they know is in the best interest of the collective and then seek to have private gain for themselves or their family.”
Mr. Kwami Edem Senanu, Anti-corruption campaigner and Chairperson of the African Union Advisory Board Against Corruption
Mr. Senanu emphasized that beyond ethical values is the introduction of specialized courts whereby corruption cases are dealt with swiftly. He acknowledged President Mahama’s recent announcement for a specialized court but called for more.
Mr. Senanu explained that when corruption cases are not delayed and convicts are made to face the law, it will serve as a deterrent for other officials.
He cited a Kenyan system that is rooted in their Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, whereby 12 specialized courts are arranged to deal with corruption cases on a daily basis, and each case must be complete in not more than six months, making the point that Ghana can have a similar arrangement.
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