Invest in training audit staff — Auditors Institute

The President of the Institute of Internal Auditors Ghana (IIAG), Ms Juliet Aboagye-Wiafe, has advised heads of public institutions to invest in the training of their audit staff.

That, she said, would ensure effective auditing and value for money for the institution in any project or programme it initiated.

“It is good to train your internal auditor because the internal auditor is giving an independent view of whatever project or programme needs to be audited. Without training, heads of institutions will not have that independent assessment.

“Invest in our training and capacity building and we will provide good value,” she stressed.

Building capacities

Ms Aboagye-Wiafe spoke to the Daily Graphic  at a two-day Project Audit Training programme in Accra.

About 176 participants attended the training which started last week Tuesday.

It was organised by the IIAG in line with its goal of building the capacity of its members and auditors in general.

The IIAG collaborated with other institutes such as the Institute of Chartered Accountants, engineers and other professional organisations in the training, which was facilitated by Tabariyeng & Associates.

Project audit

“We did a survey and the results showed that our members needed to build their capacities in certain areas, including Project Audit, hence our decision to organise this,” Ms Aboagye-Wiafe said.

She said in construction, for instance, the engineers on a project were trained and skillful in the area and although auditors were not engineers, they were expected to conduct an audit of the project to assess whether it had been done well, hence the training.

Further programmes

Mrs Aboagye-Waife said the IIAG was going to organise more programmes in critical areas of the country’s development  such as information technology (IT), and urged all members and auditors to avail themselves to upgrade their knowledge.

Context

The IIAG is an association of auditors affiliated with the global Institute of Internal Audit and the African Federation of the Institute of Internal Audit (AFIIA).
It was registered in 2001 as a professional body dedicated to the promotion and development of the practice of internal auditing in Ghana.

Writer’s email: caroline.boateng@graphic.com.gh