The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin has charged internal auditors in the country and across the continent to be at the forefront of the fight against corruption.

Ghana for the third consecutive year, failed to improve on the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) published by Transparency International (TI).

The country placed 72nd in the 2022 edition of the CPI which was released on January 31, 2023, scoring 43 out of a total of 100.CPI Score relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption and ranges between 100 (highly clean) and 0 (highly corrupt).

Against this backdrop, Mr. Alban Bagbin called on internal auditors to lead the efforts by civil society organisations (CSOs) and other well-meaning Ghanaians to eliminate corruption in every facet of the Ghanaian society by promoting innovative approaches to the execution of their duties.

Speaking at the 9th African Federation of Institute of Internal Auditors (AFIIA) Conference in Accra, he said: “We must create an environment that eliminates corrupt practices, collusion, and other malpractices that waste public resources. In short, internal auditors should lead the charge to creating a more ethical culture. Such a professional positioning is sure to add value and serve every stakeholder’s interest”.

He added: “It is an affront to your profession to watch on for national resources to be misapplied. It behooves on internal audit professionals to be bold and speak out against wrongdoings. You must occupy your space as the conscience of the nation”.

Tripartite collaboration

Mr. Bagbin who was the guest of honour at the conference also called for what he described as “tripartite” collaboration between the Institute of Internal Auditors, the national agencies responsible for internal audit and the Auditors-Generals across the continent in identifying innovative ways for managing the risks associated with the changing business environment.

“I also call on national governments to make further commitments to facilitating the capacity development of internal auditors if we are to gain serious benefit from them,” he said.

Sustainability through innovation

Organised under the theme: ‘Sustainability through Innovation’, the conference aimed to transform and challenge internal auditors to think outside the box, explore bold initiatives to innovate and be able to scale new heights, said the President of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) Ghana, Harriet Akua Karikari.

With the ever-changing governance ecosystem, she said: “It is more crucial than ever to explore new ways of thinking, to challenge our beliefs and ideas and think critically about the society and environment”.

The Director-General of the Internal Audit Agency, Dr. Odoru Osae, said the theme of the conference resonates with his outfit’s vision of injecting professionalism in internal audit practice in country, through restructuring and repositioning the Internal Audit Agency (IAA) and the IIA.

He, therefore, urged participants at the conference to commit to innovating their approaches to work and appreciate contemporary and global requirements of the profession through personal development, training and continuous capacity-building offered by the various IIA chapters across Africa.

“Let us demonstrate professionalism through competence and integrity to adequately support boards and top-level management to stop all forms of corruption and irregularities in our organisations,” he said.