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Auditors want more powers to fight graft in public sector

Thursday, May 11th, 2023 07:40 | By
An auditor at work. Photo/Getty

The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) Kenya wants more powers granted to auditors in county governments and parastatals to embolden them as they report on financial management affairs.

Chief executive Joyce Omina said internal auditors should report directly to governors or chief executive officers (CEOs) of parastatals and board audit committees.

She said this will help them avoid compromising their independence and help seal management gaps that lead to corruption and other deals that haunt the public sector.

“The internal audit heads should be highly placed so that they can directly report to the CEOs and placed at level two and functionally report to the board audit committees of their organisations,” Omina said in Mombasa during the 20th seminar for the audit professionals.

Emerging challenges

The meeting brought together over 200 internal audit professionals from public and private sector under the theme: Elevating governance inclusivity and diversity.

Omina decried emerging challenges, especially on placement of internal auditors in county governments where they are not placed highly in the organisation thus compromising their independence when making reports.

“We carry out checks and balances, and by nature of our work that is challenging, again the placement of internal auditors in the public sector, especially the county governments where our functions are not well defined, and then we face challenges,” she said.

She said internal auditors working in public institutions can help the government fight corruption if they embrace professional ethics and powers granted to them by the constitution to ensure public resources are utilised.

The institute said it will continue to lobby members to embrace ethics and integrity in line with the current laws while warning them against falling to external influence in line of duties.

 “This is the month for internal auditors to shine, so we intend to demystify the myths associated with internal auditors so we have lined up a number of activities to conduct awareness in the profession,” said Omina.

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