He said Internal audits provide a number of important services to company management, and that it was imperative for practitioners to uphold the tenets of the practice and ensure efficiency in the profession.

Prof Ocquaye said this on Wednesday at the opening ceremony of the 4th African Internal Auditors International Conference in Accra on the theme “Insight to Foresight: The New Imperative for Internal Audit and Governance’’.

The three-day conference is being held in collaboration with the Institute of Internal Auditors Ghana (IIA-Ghana) designed for internationally acclaimed corporate governance professionals, to afford them an opportunity to share ideas with participants on corporate governance effectiveness, strategies for enhancing oversight responsibility and bridging the gap of understanding between internal auditors, the Board and Management.

The conference is also to equip the Board, Chief Executive Officers and Audit Committee members to perform their oversight responsibilities effectively.The Speaker of Parliament said internal auditors play a critical role in the development of a country through detection and prevention of fraud, and urged practitioners to continue to adhere to its functions and protect the national resources from financial irregularities.

Prof Ocquaye noted that it was the duty of internal auditors to unearth any form of abuse from public funds, to sustain and avoid financial malfeasance at various organisations.

He urged authorities to work with the law enforcement agencies to sanitise the profession from corruption, adding that anybody caught in financial malfeasance should be dealt with according to the law.

 This, he explained, was critical because abuse of public funds affected development projects, as lack of accountability hampered societal progress. The Speaker of Parliament urged African leaders to clearly identify institutional challenges in the system and fashion out mechanisms to address the lapses to improve efficiency in the practice.

Mrs Angela Witzany, Chairman of the Board, Global Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) said it behooved on practitioners to know the risk of an organisation, audit beyond traditional areas and align with organisational goals.

Mrs Witzany urged practitioners to focus on problem-solving mechanisms in an organisation, provide high level of communication, invest in relationships and respect diverse opinions for the success of the profession. Mr Richard Chambers, President IIA Global, said the conference would look at what it takes to be a successful internal auditor in the 21st century and focus on risk in business operations, technology, and other challenges organisations face.

He said the Global Institute was working to provide members worldwide resources that would allow them to identify where risks were for fraud and corruption, so that they could be reported to the appropriate authorities.