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As part of efforts to build the capacity of internal auditors within State institutions in the country, Makers and Partners (MAP), a chartered accountancy firm, has extended its free capacity-building programme to the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) internal auditors in Accra.

According to the firm, one of the main challenges of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) is the forging of claims by some service providers and anticipated that the training would help strengthen the internal audit function of NHIA.

The workshop, which was facilitated by Mr. Wilfred Neneh Addico, a forensic investigation expert, aimed at equipping the participants with the requisite forensic investigation skills to safeguard the Authority from internal threats such as fraud.

Speaking to the media, Mr Alfred Aryee, a partner at MAP, said the gesture formed part of MAP’s Corporate Social Responsibility as they intend to provide training in the area of forensic audit to at least 10 State institutions.

He said the firm recognizes the role National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) plays in the health sector and underscored the need to build the capacity of internal auditors to help curb lots of challenges facing the scheme and insurance fraud at large.

He said beneficiaries of the training workshop were taken through the details of effective planning of an investigation, practical and useful skills for evidence gathering and preservation using the appropriate techniques and tools including adequate documentation of procedures to obtain evidence.

Mr Rudolf Zimmerman, Head of Assurance Department of the Internal Audit Directorate at NHIA, commended MAP for the training programme and said the participants have acquired knowledge on investigation planning, execution, reporting and ensuring there is quality assurance so far as investigation is concerned.

He pointed out that one of their challenges was about capacity building, saying the auditing space is becoming more complex, so it is important to always match it with the complexity of the audit procedures and capacity must be built at all times to remain relevant.

Mr Zimmerman, who underscored the need to have training workshops on regular basis, anticipated that MAP’s workshop would help fill the gaps and probably ease the process of audit and with that knowledge they would be able to do the audit within a limited time with sufficient competence.

Mr Kwasi Ampadu- Kissi, the Managing Partner of Kissi Consult, said as part of efforts to tackle the challenges within the auditing space, management of State agencies or institutions must create a good atmosphere for internal auditors and also treat their reports fairly.

“The external auditor comes in once for a certain period or a number of days, he assesses and takes samples, but the internal auditor is sitting by the books and can decide to do pre-audit of all transactions”, he added.

He further stated that it however depends on what controls are available and “that’s why he needs to assess the controls and be able to tell you whether is working or not, and then try to improve on it all the time so that at least things can go right”.

Mr Ampadu-Kiss emphasized that when there is no order in the office, all these could create challenges for the internal audit function.