Public sector internal auditors must embrace ethical professionalism

The Director-General of the Internal Audit Agency (IAA), Dr Eric Oduro Osae, has urged public sector internal auditors to embrace the principles of risk-based auditing, compliance and ethical professionalism in executing their duties.

“The agency will continue to play its role by providing technical guidance, capacity building and regulatory oversight,” Dr Osae said at the launch of the 2025 Revised Risk-Based Internal Audit (RBIA) Manual for Public Sector Internal Audit and a New Strategic Plan 2025-2028 for the IAA in Accra last Thursday.

He said the significance of the event attested to the country’s commitment to uphold best practices in the public sector internal auditing in Ghana for improved Public Financial Management (PFM), thus keeping pace with the rest of the world.

Standards

Ghana, he said, was among the first countries to adopt the new Global Internal Auditing Standards (GIAS) as part of efforts at professionalising internal audit practice in the public sector.

“As the Government of Ghana resets the Ghanaian economy through accountability and reduced corruption, the Internal audit practice is positioning itself to support this agenda by strengthening control systems and structures within the public sector by the adoption of the new standards and revision or aligning internal audit manuals and practice notes governing public sector internal audit practice in Ghana.”

“Revising all manuals and practice notes in line with the adopted international standards forms an important part of its core mandate.

Besides, the country in resetting the economy is working to improve the proactiveness and the early warning signal functions of internal auditors by moving public sector internal audit from conventional pre-auditing to a risk-based audit system,” he said.

Efficiency

In the last two decades, Dr Osae said the internal auditors in the public sector had demonstrated unwavering commitment to fostering transparency, accountability and efficiency within the public sector institutions.

“I am happy to inform you that we are gradually turning the corner towards improving and professionalising PSIA practice in Ghana.

The Agency is working with the government to implement various measures aimed at resetting the Internal Audit practice in Ghana  towards improved PFM.”

“Today’s event is one of the key milestones chalked by Ghana towards assuring our Stakeholders that the country’s PFM Systems aligns with global standards and all the required Manuals and Practice notes have been aligned with global standards for improved PFM,” he said.

Documents

The immediate-past Chairman of the IAA, Joseph Winful, who launched the documents, believed the launching of the manual particularly, would “assist us in becoming great internal audit professionals”

“We want to ensure that we protect the purse, we want to ensure that we are obtaining maximum value for our money,” he said.

For his part, the President of the Institute of Internal Auditors, Joseph Dakora Zumasigee, acknowledged the hard work of the IAA and said it had been part of the process for quite a lengthy part of it.