Internal auditing in the public service

John Seeram

By John Seeram

Introduction

John Seeram

The Fiscal Management and Accountability (FMAA) Act No 20 of 2003 – Section 11(b) requires heads of budget agencies to maintain effective Internal Audit Units (IAUs). Unfortunately, many agencies are yet to establish IAUs.

According to the 2015 Auditor General’s (AG) Report, there were 47 Internal Auditors in six agencies of which three—the Guyana Revenue Authority (17), the Ministry of Finance (15) and the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (7) comprised 39 or 83 percent. Major agencies are yet to see the establishment of IAUs, for example, the Ministries of the Presidency, Education, Public Infrastructure, Public Health, Agriculture and Public Security. It was reported by the AG that the IAU of the Ministry of Finance is centralised for various ministries, departments and regions. However this unit only comprises 15 auditors. Although the information I am presenting is