GIMPA TO TRAIN AUDIT OFFICERS (PAGE 34)

THE Audit Service is collaborating with the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) to train audit officers with professional competence to track down cyber fraud.
Presently, the first batch of 17 audit service officers has been enrolled at GIMPA to undertake the course which is designed to sharpen the knowledge and managerial skills of the officers to detect cyber financial crimes in high circles.
The Deputy Auditor-General in charge of Finance, Mr Richard Quartey, who addressed the audit staff at the opening of the course, said the Audit Service could no longer stand aloof in this computer age and still become relevant. It had, therefore, initiated that action to create career opportunities for its staff in the globalised environment.
He said it was sad that audit officers spent as much as 30 years in the service and retired without having had any career opportunities to upgrade their managerial skills.
Mr Quartey stressed that it was becoming more and more strategic for organisations to have the best people in terms of knowledge and skills, adding that required training and staff development in areas that were most relevant to the strategic direction of the organisation.
He added that training was no longer an after-thought within the service but had become an important link with the strategy and goals of the organisation.
Mr Quartey stressed that the challenges of globalised markets had implications not just for employers but also for employees who needed to develop flexibility in order to remain employable. He said it also called for the recognition of the importance of having qualification or a certificate in one’s area of work.
The Manager of the Business Support and Executive Training Programme Department at GIMPA, Mrs Victoria Kumbuor, said the collaboration was a demonstration of GIMPA’s continuous commitment to its mandate to develop a public administration system and produce civil servants with administrative and professional competence to plan and operate national, regional and local services.
She said the collaboration between GIMPA and the Audit Service to run a Certificate in Administration and Management course was designed to meet the career aspirations of audit officers and practitioners in public and private sector organisations.