09 Sep 2019

Internal auditors have been described as the pillar of governance in every organization hence the need to do their job effectively.

This was said by an independent senior consultant, Mr Enoch Mushango during a workshop organized by the Institute of Internal Auditors Botswana (IIA Botswana), an affiliate of The Institute of Internal Auditors Global (The IIA Global).

 The IIA Global is a professional body aimed to promote and develop practice of internal auditing and setting of its standards for which every practicing internal auditor has to follow.

The workshop attracted internal auditors from government, parastatals and private sector and some participants from Ghana.

Mr Mushango revealed that internal auditors helped the organisation to achieve its objective by improving its operation of governance.

He said the workshop was part of institute’s strategy to equip participants with skills so that they do their job effectively and prevent fraud at all cost.

He said issues of fraud and corruption had been making headlines in media houses noting that fraud was not only practiced in government ministries/departments but also in the private sector because of ineffective controls.

He believed that the training would be an eye-opener to participants as it would enable them to  effectively implement existing controls in their workplaces. He also observed that organizations had controls of fraud in place but stated that if they become a hindrance to progress, they needed to be reviewed.

His said participants should raise awareness in their workplace so that employees served the country with good governance.

“We want internal auditors to comply with the set standards and send a message throughout the organizations that fraud will not be tolerated as it affects the economy,” he added.

Mr Mushango informed participants that organisations existed to create value adding that value created was for owners and stakeholders. He stressed the need to satisfy different expectations.

Participants were drilled on fraud investigations and detection control issues among others.

They were informed that investigating fraud was like making a judgment on whether they were achieving their goals.

Mr Mushango said fraud investigation was a process and could be conducted if there were some irregularities in the workplace adding that the purpose of the investigation would be to find the root cause, correct and achieve the objectives.

Another facilitator, Mr James Tinarwo who is the managing director of Golden Link Advisory Group Company underscored the need for internal auditors to manage fraud risk before it occurs.

He also said it was important to gather enough evidence to convince the courts adding that to prove fraud in court, they needed to prove intent.

He further said it was critical to put in place corrective controls to prevent fraud in the workplaces.

The training also covered amongst other issues, the different types of fraud and corruption risk exposures; fraud risk assessment; fraud and corruption prevention measures and roles of different stakeholders in fraud and corruption prevention, detection, control and investigation among others. ENDS