V/R Minister advises GES internal auditors

Ho, Nov. 30, GNA - The Volta Regional Minister Mr Kwasi Owusu-Yeboa, on Tuesday reminded Internal Auditors of the Ghana Education Service (GES) that the destiny of the country's education depends on them.

They should therefore, exercise their responsibilities in strict conformity with the prescriptions of the Internal Audit Agency Act, the Financial Administration Act and the Public Procurement Act, all of 2003.

Mr Owusu-Yeboa made the call in an address read for him at the fifth Annual National Conference of Internal Auditors of the GES at Ho under the theme; "Enhancing the Financial Administration of Education- the role of the Internal Auditor".

About 300 participants are attending the two-day conference, which would focus on "the Internal Audit Agency Act, 2003, the way forward for the GES Internal Auditor and the "Presentation of Audit Report".

Mr. Owusu-Yeboa said the government looked forward to the Internal Auditors doing a thorough work on personnel remunerations, which accounted for 88 percent of the GES budget and the internally generated funds of the Service.

He said the country's development partners, who are giving tremendous support to the education sector, "demand accountability and value for money. They want to invest where there is evidence of fiscal responsibility and sound management".

"It is therefore, imperative to have efficient and vibrant Internal Audit in the GES", Mr Owusu-Yeboa said.

He said it is in the light of these demands that serious exceptions are taken to reported acts of financial abuse in the Service and the extent to which, its Internal Audit is effective in dealing with such financial abuses.

Mr. Owusu-Yeboa said notwithstanding the constraints under which personnel of the Internal Audit are working, "some auditors are simply incorrigible", and must change for the better under the regime of the Internal Audit Agency Act.