Auditors must expose financial malpractices to save country – Domelevo

The Auditor-General, Yaw Daniel Domelevo, has urged internal auditors to take bold decisions and expose infractions to save the country from financial malpractices.

He explained that internal auditors are the watchdogs of any institution and are expected to discharge their professional duties effectively and efficiently, any breach or compromise would completely jeopardise the fortunes of that organisation.

Mr Domelevo said at the 50th-anniversary lecture of the Internal Audit Directorate of the University of Ghana on the theme: “Celebrating excellence, shaping the future through internal audit”.

He was speaking on the topic, “Public Financial Management: Improving Internal Audit Agency”.

According to the Auditor-General, it is not every chief executive that understands their job; it, therefore, behoves the internal auditor to prevent wastage in the system by discharging their duty without fear or favour.

“You need to call a spade a spade because most accountants do not tell the truth, that was why as internal auditors you need to be bold and tell management about any malfeasance in the course of the discharge of your professional duties”, he added.

Mr Domelevo indicated that the anti-corruption crusade embarked upon by the President cannot be won if agencies and departments mandated to prevent corrupt practices do not function effectively adding that “the President does not have the magic wand to do it alone.”

He urged the internal auditors not to be afraid when they come face to face with infractions, “expose them so that we can have a better Ghana so that internal auditors who go on retirement will live in peace instead of frequently being hauled before the courts to answer questions on mistakes made in the past.

“The profession is a noble one that can bring the needed change to transform the country that is why I am appealing to managers to work closely with their internal auditors to enable them get first-hand information on rots occurring in their organisations”, he added.

Mr Domelevo stated that it was not the duty of his outfit to settle matters on malfeasance at the workplaces because when the 30 days grace period to respond to the observations expire, his duty is to take you to court to demand the financial cost of your action in addition to the principal to ensure that the principal is not lost.”

The Director-General, Internal Audit Agency, Mr Ransford Agyei speaking on the topic, “Governance, Management and Resourcing Internal Audit urged organisations to provide adequate logistics to the internal auditor to enable them function effectively and independently.

He urged the auditors to provide unbiased reports to enable management achieve its objectives while ensuring that they exhibit the highest level of discipline to enable the organisation achieve its objectives.

Good corporate governance, he explained involves the application of the appropriate code of ethics in order to draw the attention of management to infractions towards ensuring fiscal discipline in the running of the organisation.