Align work with MW2063, internal auditors advised
High Court Judge Chifundo Kachale has advised internal auditors to align their work with Malawi 2063 (MW2063), the country’s long-term development plan, to remain relevant to the country’s aspirations.
He said this on Friday at Sun ‘N’ Sand Holiday Resort in Mangochi when he delivered a keynote address at the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) Malawi Annual Lakeshore Conference themed Resilience in Turbulent Times.
Kachale, who is also Malawi Electoral Commission chairperson, said: “I enncourage them and challenge them as professionals to recognise what is the national vision that we are trying to pursue as a people and to remind them that as professionals, they must ensure that they are relevant to the nation’s aspirations at personal and professional level.
“They should be familiar with what issues the government is articulating as areas of priority and as internal auditors, they should understand how they can add value to the work that government is trying to do as it aspires to create an inclusive and wealthy economy that will be a middle-income economy by 2063.”
He said that in line with the conference’s theme, internal auditors have to be resilient at a time the Covid-19 pandemic has affected people and ravaged economies.
Kachale said internal auditors, just like any other professionals, encounter challenges and they have to understand how they can respond to the setbacks that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought.
He said the role of internal auditors is critical in ensuring that their companies and organisations are accountable in the manner they administer the resources.
“Internal auditors are the very first people who can detect where there has been misallocation of resources, where there has been corruption and if they, as watchdogs, are failing to exercise their function because they themselves are compromised, then there is little chance for us to be able overcome the challenges limiting our capacity as the economy to grow,” Kachale said .
IIA Malawi president Ackson Banda said as internal auditors, they are doing all they can to survive in these difficult times brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said: “Coronavirus pandemic has tossed us into uncharted waters. We are going through the most turbulent times.
“The socio-economic impact of Covid-19 on Malawians citizens has been unprecedented.”
Banda said due to the Covid-19 pandemic, enterprises have folded up, employees have been laid off and retrenched and businesses are running on expensive loans.
“It is at times like these that we need to do a stocktaking, at personal, community and national level. It is during these times that internal auditing becomes imperative,” he said.
Banda encouraged internal auditors to ensure that they maintain their integrity as it is at the core of their work and also desist from corruption.
Some of the presenters at the three-day conference included First Deputy Speaker of Parliament Madalitso Kazombo, Anti-Corruption Bureau director general Martha Chizuma, financial specialist and strategist Simon Itaye and Thokozile Kuwali, who is the head of internal audit at NBS Bank plc.
