‘Refer erring accountants to ICAG for sanctioning’
The Institute of Chartered Accountants – Ghana (ICAG) has cautioned employers to desist from shelving accountants who engage in financial malfeasance.
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Rather, they should refer them to the institute for appropriate sanctioning.
The President of ICAG, Professor K. B. Omane-Antwi, gave the caution when a delegation from the ICAG met with some management staff of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), at the head office in Accra.
ICAG, which is the sole body charged with the regulation of the accountancy profession in Ghana, says there are several stringent measures that are applied to members, who go contrary to their code of ethics.
“ We have stringent disciplinary systems with sanctions, which ensure that licences and certificates can be withdrawn. Our certificate is not forever and so when you take it, it still resides with the institute,” Professor Omane-Antwi stressed.
He said the institute was strengthening its training, in a bid to reorient Ghanaians, adding that accountants needed to be trained to understand that the key to success was integrity and not misappropriation of the funds they were to manage.
The Director of G-Pak, a subsidiary company of the GCGL, Mr James Dadzie, who welcomed the delegation, reiterated the need for more education and training for accountants in the country, as most cases showed that the problem was that of misappropriation of resources.
Media collaboration
The Chief Executive Officer of ICAG, Mr Fred Moore, for his part, stressed the need for collaboration between the institute and the media in the discussion of economic issues which needed the expertise of accountants.
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In response, the Director of Newspapers at the GCGL, Mr Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafoh, said that the initiative was welcome, as the views of professionals were relevant to improved reportage.
“We welcome this new initiative and we will make use of it definitely,” he said.
Mr Boadu-Ayeboafoh indicated, for instance, that in covering the next budget, Graphic would solicit the viewpoints of accountants aside talking to others and added, “We hope that when we do come we will get the reception that you are offering us.”
He explained that although the views of professionals were the best assessment of issues, sometimes politics prevented them from airing their views, due to the interpretation that might be given to such views.