Maintain integrity, internal auditors urged

An internal auditor is an employee of a company charged with providing independent and objective evaluations of the company’s financial and operational business activities, including its corporate governance.
Former Rainbow Tourism Group chief executive and Ancient City Lodge founder Mrs Chipo Mtasa said internal auditors should not fear to communicate their findings.
“One simply has to abide by principles that are right. As long as you do your job and document your case someone will come to appreciate it,” said Mrs Mtasa.
She, however, noted that weak company boards presented the most significant challenge to the work of internal auditors.
“Weak boards are a key component of corporate failure in the country,” she said.
Internal auditors are therefore generally pensive about communicating negative information regarding the conduct and effectiveness at the board level.
Although internal auditing frequently involves measuring compliance with the entity’s policies and procedures, internal auditors are not responsible for the execution of company activities. They merely advise management and the board of directors regarding how to better execute their responsibilities.
CBZ Holdings chairman Mr Luxon Zembe said it was critical that the board chairperson of the audit committee minimise “occupational risks” for the internal auditor.
“The board chair of the audit committee should be strictly independent and they should be involved in the appraisal of the internal auditor. In any such case, the chair should be told why the internal auditor is being fired.
“There is never a problem with employees missing the ethical issues. It is always a problem of getting them to speak up without fear of victimisation or other undesirable consequences,” he said.
Mr Zembe also urged the IIA to engage good lawyers in order to provide for effective recourse for their members that may be unfairly dismissed.
The IIA is the only recognised professional body in Zimbabwe that is dedicated to the development of the internal audit profession.
Seed Co group chief executive officer Mr Morgan Nzwere urged internal auditors to go beyond being reactive to situations.
“Internal auditors should be involved in the company’s growth process and key to this is to be part of its strategy formulation process,” he said.
Internal auditors’ professional background should extend beyond accounting, Mr Nzwere added.
Meanwhile, the problem of ineffective boards has negatively affected corporate governance in both the private and public sector.
In respect of public boards, however, the State Enterprises and Parastatals Minister Gorden Moyo said the Government was actively reforming the way SEP boards are appointed and run.
“The situation of corporate governance in our SEPs can be rescued, but this requires a paradigm shift from traditional ways of selection of both boards and management to the adoption of systems that take cognisance of the need for the right skills mix, professionalism, the introduction of public accountability and self-monitoring mechanisms. This is precisely the reason the Government has introduced Board Performance Agreements and Performance Contracts for chief executive officers of SEPs,” he said.