Arusha — ARUSHA: INTERNAL auditors in the country have voiced concerns over threats and intimidations they were subjected to by management and directors and organizations they are working for.
The auditors have insisted that such a trend was deterring them from acting objectively.
Speaking here on Wednesday during the 16th Annual Internal Auditors Conference, President of the Institute of Internal Auditors Tanzania (IIA) Zelia Njeza, called on the government to protect the profession against retaliations.
According to Ms Njeza, auditors were expected to provide an unbiased and professional opinion on the work that they audit, and that it was saddening to see them being on the receiving end of threats.
"At time we get threatened and victimized, this affects us, because we cannot perform our duties in confidently and efficiently," she observed.
The IIA Tanzania President also singled out low recognition of the audit profession and inadequate resources as some of the bottlenecks marring the profession.
"We need to be given our own vehicles so that we can freely move from one area to the other while doing our audits," she added.
In his rejoinder, Education, Science and Technology Minister Prof Adolf Mkenda said the government highly valued the contribution of internal auditors in identifying issues like compliance concerns, risks, fraud, and data inaccuracies.
He however challenged the internal auditors to strive to revolutionize their thinking and approaches to tackling emerging risks, in the digital era.
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Shedding light on Africa Risks in Focus 2023 Report, African Federation of Institutes of Internal Auditors (AFIIA) Chairperson Ruth Doreen Mutebe, highlighted that the threat of cyber security was projected to increase from 58 per cent to 62 per cent, in the three years while Digital Disruption rate was fast, coming up at 53 per cent from the initial 35 per cent.
"How ready are we, to make contributions in our boardrooms," she queried.
It is estimated that there are around more than 2000 internal auditors in the country.
However, only a mere 500 have registered themselves as members of IIA Tanzania.
IIA Tanzania is a professional institute which brings together internal audit practitioners and interested parties in internal audit in Tanzania as members. It is registered in Tanzania since 2006.
It was formed to promote the internal auditing profession in Tanzania by equipping its members with the relevant tools and techniques to discharge their responsibilities more effectively and efficiently.
Meanwhile, Tanzania is set host the 10th th AFIIA Conference, slated for April next year.
