The Institute of Internal Auditors Kenya (IIAK) has partnered with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to train Heads of Internal Audit in the public service on new internal audit standards.
According to the CEO at the IIAK, Dr. Joyce Omina, the new internal audit standards they are incorporating on Domain 2 are on ethics and professionalism, with an emphasis on professional courage in tackling corruption within organisations.
While speaking to journalists at Machakos University during the 1st phase of capacity building with heads of internal audit, Omina said that EACC has issued some guidelines on anti-corruption, which has made them change their standards and focus on ethics and professionalism.
“The EACC issued some guidelines to the public service institution on anti-corruption, and as IIAK, we have recently changed our internal audit standards, which are in Domain 2, which focuses on ethics and professionalism with emphasis on professional courage,” said Omina.
The CEO underscored the crucial role of internal auditors, saying they were at the forefront in uncovering corruption in organisations and were also responsible for putting controls in place to help curb corruption.
She noted that the new audit standards on professional courage would be a boost in dealing with corruption and ethics in different organisations so as to run the country with a lot of accountability.
On her part, the EACC Deputy Director in Charge of Education and Public Awareness Emily Moria added that they were training internal auditors so as to embrace the values of integrity and ethics in their functions as auditors.
She termed corruption as a cancer that has permeated into society, and as EACC, capacity building on various professional bodies was one of the major ways of fighting corruption.
Moira further noted that they were mandated to investigate corruption, conduct public awareness and civic education, and have made strides in their investigations that have resulted in recovering people’s property.
Additionally, she pointed out that through various capacity building, they have managed to achieve major strides since some organisations have managed to deter corruption and have instilled ethics and integrity among auditors and colleagues.
By Anne Kangero
