Management of the internal audit function and financial accountability in local government of Uganda.

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to establish the extent to which the management of the internal audit function influences financial accountability in the Local Governments of Uganda. the objectives of the study were to examine the extent to which internal audit Governance influences financial accountability in Local Governments of Uganda, to examine the extent to which internal audit resources influences financial accountability in the Local Government of Uganda, and to examine the extent to which internal audit automation influences financial accountability in Local Governments of Uganda. The study used a cross-sectional study design using quantitative and qualitative approaches on a population of 220 internal auditors in local governments of Uganda at the level of district principal auditor, senior auditors and auditors. The study found out that internal audit governance was a significant predictor of the variance in financial accountability (adjusted R2 = 0.251). Internal audit resource was a significant predictor of the variance in financial accountability (adjusted R2 = 0.119) while internal audit automation was a significant predictor of the variance in financial accountability. The study concluded that the interference with the internal audit independence adversely affects financial accountability in the local government of Uganda. It was also concluded that the human and resource constraints in the management of the internal audit function adversely affect financial accountability in local governments. It was also concluded that inadequate information and communication networks adversely affected the performance of internal audit roles and financial accountability in local governments. To enhance financial accountability on local governments of Uganda the study recommends that the local government administration should;- sensitize stakeholders on the need to respect the independence of the internal audit function; in liaison with the relevant central government ministries that should train internal auditor in audit-related IT skills and continuous professional development to enhance their audit competencies; in liaison with MoFPED that should link to integrated audit tools with adequate analytical capacity to enable them extract audit-related data, analyze and generate internal audit reports such as the IFMIS.