Mr. Mark Woyongo, Upper East Regional Minister, on Wednesday called on internal auditors to be proactive in the prevention of financial mismanagement that has bedeviled the country’s public institutions.

The minister asked them to take pain to scrutinize financial transactions they encountered in order to save the country’s scarce resources from misappropriation.

He said doing this would minimize the phenomenal audit queries that professionals of the service encountered in their practices.

The regional minister made these statements when he addressed the 8th annual conference of the Association of Internal Auditors of the Ghana Education Service in Bolgatanga under the theme: “Ensuring Prudent Financial Management for Better Ghana - The Ghana Education Service Internal Auditors in Perspective”.

He congratulated the organizers of the programme and said the conference could not have come at any opportune time than this, especially when the country was missing vital targets in the educational institutions, which government devoted significant amount of its budget to.

Mr. Woyongo said internal auditors’ role was important to drawing the attention of management to any unsustainable trend in the nation’s resources to ensure judicious management for government to have value for money.

He advised them not to condone and or connive with management to dissipate funds in the discharge of their professional duties.

Mr. Paul Apanga, Upper East Regional Director of Education, who welcomed participants to the conference, called on internal auditors whose primary function is to monitor and review operational efficiency, to always update themselves with the laws and regulations regarding prudent financial management.

Referring to the Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) and the Internal Audit Agency Act, (Act 658), he indicated that auditors who were abreast of procurement issues, would be in the position to do quality work for the GES.

He asked them to be reminded of their work ethics and good moral values for effective education in the country.

Reverend Bismark Anaba Akandi, Association Chairman and Chief Internal Auditor, thanked all GES internal auditors from across the regions of the country and urged them to interact and share experiences on their work.

“As auditors, a huge responsibility has been placed on us and we dare not fail,” he said.

He reiterated the call on colleagues to command the confidence and respect in the discharge of their duties.

Mr. Akandi, who is also a pastor with the Presbyterian Church in an interview told the Ghana News Agency (GNA, said the four days conference would deliberate on audit and financial misappropriation and misapplication that appeared at the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and to find ways of reducing their occurrences.

He thanked pacesetters of the Association, who laid the foundation for the professional body to meet occasionally, to discuss their challenges and chart a way forward.