Nov 02, 2021…In an endeavour to strengthen internal controls, the Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology (MCST) has introduced permanent Internal Audit Department (IAD).
Legally established in 1979, the department is regulated by Public Financial Management Act 2011 No 38 and Treasury Regulation 2014.
The office is said to have since operated from the Ministry of Finance until 2006 when Public Financial Management Reforms came into, thus resulted in Internal Audit being decentralised hence Internal Auditor became resident and operative from different Ministries.
In an interview, Head of IAD at MCST, Mrs. Keketso Challa states that this department is vital in terms of enforcing proper control mechanisms so as to minimise incidents of fraud as well as to facilitate the process of assessing and analysing risk in the Ministry.
Responding to how often they conduct audit exercises in different departments of the Ministry, she indicates that this depends on the nature of risk each department is exposed to, saying the need for each to understand their work is key if they are to achieve goals and objectives set.
In conclusion, she called internal publics to help the department carry out its mission, thereby evaluate internal controls, governance processes and risk management strategies of the Ministry in order to reduce exposure of loss of financial and other assets, to check compliance with laid down rules, regulations, policies and procedures.
The Ministry of communications has seven departments namely: Administration, Postal Services, ICT, LENA, LNBS, ATS and Science.
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