BY GRACE MACHA IN ARUSHA
Internal auditors want full recognition from the heads of their respective institutions and adequate resources to improve work efficiency.
They have also called on the CEOs to defend them against lack of cooperation from fellow workers given the nature of their duties.
"We are concerned because resources are not enough to support internal audit units", said Ms Zelia Njeza, the president of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) Tanzania.
She said the profession was hardly well recognized among some technocrats heading an array of institutions, including corporate bodies.
To add salt to injury, many internal auditors, including members of her institute, were poorly remunerated, often with poor pay.
She made the remarks here on Wednesday at the start of the 16th Annual Internal Auditors' Conference hosted by the Institute.
She said problems facing the internal auditors in Tanzania have reached a point where their lives are threatened given the nature of their job.
"How would they feel safe when they are investigating financial malpractices that may involve their bosses or fellow workers,?"she asked.
Ms Njeza called on the government to put in place a legal framework that would protect internal auditors from being harmed or victimized.
"They should be protected so that they can discharge their duties with a peace of mind and in full confidence," she pointed out.
According to a recent study made by the Morogoro-based Mzumbe University ,public servants have a negative attitude and feeling against the audit practice in their organisations.
Consequently, problems like lack of cooperation have been posing great challenges to internal auditors and in turn, the majority of audit reports have been seen to be lacking consistency and reliability.
The study also concluded that one of the great sources and even the challenges facing internal auditors include the lack of cooperation from peers, negative attitude, and dislike from the majority of public servants – whose effects tend to result in the scenario, whereby, audit practice lacks essential information required for it to issue reliable and effective reports.
It recommended the government to be prudent and strategic in putting measures that would regulate the appropriate use of its resources allocated in different local authorities.
The dossier also recommended other studies to cover similar areas of knowledge for them to extend the notion or awareness pertaining to internal audit.
Ms Njeza emphasized the need for the CEOs of public and private institutions to work closely with the internal auditors.
She added that internal auditing was key to the on-going transformation of the parastatal organisations.
Speaking to journalists ahead of the meeting, the former Controller and Auditor General (CAG) Ludovick Utouh said public and private institutions would win the trust of the people if their accounts are fully audited.
Mr. Utouh, who is the executive director of WAJIBU Institute of Public Accountability, engineered a number of reforms in the audit sector.
Prof Patrick Otieno Lumumba from Kenya said auditors should be given enough space to contain squandering of public resources.
The outspoken don regretted that some politicians in the East African states have been interfering with the work of the auditors.
The Institute of Internal Auditors Tanzania is affiliated to the Global Institute of Internal Auditors, a global leader in certification, education, research and technological guidance for the internal audit profession.
Locally, it is the only institution that provides universally applicable International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing as well as Code of Ethics that promotes ethical culture in the profession of internal auditing.
IIA Tanzania brings together internal audit practitioners and interested parties in internal audit in Tanzania as members.
Since 2006, IIA Tanzania has been uniting internal audit practitioners and enthusiasts across Tanzania, raising awareness about the evolving role of internal audit, driving the implementation of the International Professional Practices Framework (IPPF).
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