The Western Regional Minister, Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, has advised municipal, metropolitan and districts assemblies to take special interest in perusing audit reports to avert frequent embarrassing situations before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament.

Speaking at the meeting of Heads of Internal Auditors in Sekondi yesterday, the minister said, “most often such embarrassing situations are avoidable, because audit queries that end up in the Auditor General’s report are issues that could have been talked over and resolved at the institutional level.”

Meeting

The meeting, which had participants from the Western, Western North and Central regions, was geared towards discussing ways of improving the work of auditors at all levels as well as the general process of the office.

The regional minister said even though more often MMDCEs and MMDCDs did not take time or interest in perusing draft reports before they were finalised, the time had come to pay attention to the reports when submitted.

“This unyielding attitude and power play from both sides often end up in a whole management team of an institution appearing before the Public Accounts Committee hearing for interrogation, not to talk about the embarrassment it causes,” he said.

Work in harmony

He said calling for team work among the audit office and agencies involved was not to say auditors should condone wrongdoing, “but to emphasise that as internal auditors, you should work in harmony with your colleague management members to deliver effectively on the mandate of your organisations.”

“I want you to know that internal audit is an important function in every corporate setup, but it is often not appreciated, because it plays a back office role,” he said.

He reminded the officers that their office provided an independent assurance that their institution’s governance, risk management and internal control processes were operating effectively.

Financial losses

“This does not only save organisations from financial losses but largely protects hard earned reputation and boosts confidence in the taxpayer. I am aware most of you suffer intimidation and opposition in the course of your duties but you have a duty to perform,” he charged them.

The Regional Director of the Internal Audit Unit, Mr Steven Quashie, said its work in the region was faced with just a little challenge as staff members had resolved to carry out their duties diligently.

“In terms of auditing in the region I must say all is going well, but the only challenge we have is the delay and getting the report concluded early to submit to the internal audit agency,” he said.

Mr Quashie stated that managers at the regional and district levels should not be too busy to sit-down and review the reports and provide explanations before they are sent out.