Agriculture (MoFA) was organised in Accra by Makers and Partners, a chartered accountancy firm.

It was to equip the Internal Au­ditors of MoFA with the requisite skills for forensic investigation to safeguard MoFA from internal threats such as fraud, misconduct and abuse.

Participants were taken through the intricacies of effective planning of an investigation, practical and useful skills for evidence gathering and preservation using the appropri­ate techniques, and tools including adequate documentation of proce­dures performed to obtain evidence.

A representative of Makers and Partners, Mr Alfred Aryee, said the project was part of the Firm’s Cor­porate Social Responsibility which involves reaching out to governmen­tal institutions to assist in the fight against fraud.

He stated that because the Firm’s frontliners were members of the As­sociation of Certified Fraud Exam­iners (ACFE), it would also create a platform to share past experiences in fraud- related issues.

Mr Aryee also said the gesture was intended to build capacity and give free training for internal auditors so they could undertake forensic audits and report their results.

He further stated that the Auditor General’s (AG) Reports typically emphasise on issues of theft of funds and irregularities, and said that “we believe that if the various institutions are empowered when it comes to forensic investigations, such things can be curtailed before they even reach the AG.”

A facilitator of the workshop, Mr Wilfred Neneh Addico, ob­served that fraud incidents came to the MoFA through Internal Audit function, mainly by referrals from management.

He suggested that if the Internal Audit Function was to be effective in carrying out investigations, the mandate for forensic investigation should be embedded into their Audit Charter to provide the power, support, and guidelines for an effec­tive fraud risk management.

Mr Addico said an amended Charter that catered for fraud risk management would make room to develop and maintain a dedicated forensic investigation unit of state institutions with the mandate to investigate fraud within the public sector, adding that the collaboration would widen the fight against cor­ruption and fraud within the public sector.

Mr Isaac Adjin Bonney, Chief In­ternal Auditor at MoFA, expressed gratitude to the organisers, by saying “the training has given us skills and knowledge needed to improve our reporting and internal audit work”.

He said good reporting touched on the root cause as well checks irregularities that always appeared at the Public Accounts Committee, and expressed the hope that it would also help address misappropriation of funds linked to corruption.