Include accountants on public councils, boards — ICAG President to government
THE Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana (ICAG) has appealed to President John Dramani Mahama to include an accountant on every governing council and board of all public institutions.
It said the move was to ensure that accountability and proper financial discipline were enshrined in those governing boards and councils.
The President of the institute, Augustine Addo, who announced this, said, “Any governing council or board that does not have an accountant is deficient.”
He was speaking at the inauguration of the Governing Council of the ICAG as the Council Chairman.
“The Institute of Chartered Accountants has credible men that we can supply to the President to nourish these governing boards and councils,” Mr Addo said.
Accountancy education
He pledged that the institute would continue to ensure that “we will relate with the universities and other tertiary institutions to ensure smooth progression from academia to the professional arena.
“Therefore, we are prepared to help you in drafting and developing all curricula relating to accountancy education in the country.
“We continue to support your ministry and the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) to ensure that accountancy education in the country is well enhanced and ensures smooth progression from academia to the professional arena,” he added.
Mr Addo, who is also the Chairman of the Governing Council, said the Institute stood by its word that the governing council was well prepared to support the Education Ministry to be able to ensure that accountancy was well embedded in the country and would help the government to ensure proper public financial management in the country.
He thanked the minister and the President, and the Council of State for their honour done them and their confidence reposed in the members of the council.
Accountancy practice
Mr Addo said the ICAG was a professional accountants' organisation established by an Act of Parliament to regulate accountants and other practices in Ghana.
“This governing council has the mandate and the statutory responsibility to ensure that this noble objective of this institute is carried out with all the vigour and urgency that it deserves,” Mr Addo stressed.
Mr Addo said the ICAG had been conducting a public lecture and “anytime we do a public lecture, we get a draft of the resolutions and submit them to the government for implementation”.
“We continue to do that and make sure that our voice will be heard by the President, and for that, the Republic of Ghana to ensure that they are relevant to the nation,” he added.
He stated that the ICAG had an administrative structure that had actually put in place all that was required for the institute to be relevant to the nation.
Response
The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, who inaugurated the board, said the appeal to make it mandatory for accountants to be included in the councils and board had to be channelled through Parliament to make it a law.
He said, though a good call, it would have to be a law to make it binding, adding that parliamentarians would have to be the ones to make it work.
Mr Iddrisu also reminded the accountants that they were the stewards of the mandate that demanded transparency, accountability, and responsiveness.
"Your role will be to ensure that the accountancy profession is practised, reflecting best practices, and ensuring that decisions that are taken are objective, inclusive and in the interest of the profession and the Ghanaian public," the minister said.
Mr Iddrisu reminded the council members that their role would be to ensure that the accountancy profession was practised, reflecting best practices, and ensuring that decisions that were taken were objective, inclusive, and in the interest of the profession and the Ghanaian public.