Monrovia – The newly appointed head of the Internal Audit Authority Barten Nyeswa is not a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) – a credential requires for one to head such integrity entity.
Report by Al-Varney Rogers – [email protected]
But the new appointee argues that the law doesn’t specify that in order to head the IAA one must hold a CPA.
Section 5.3 of the IAA Act says the Director General shall be a professional qualified accountant and a member of a national accountancy body that is a member of the International Federation of Accountants.
Audit experts say the law doesn’t mentioned CPA but rather International Federation of Accountants, adding that to be a part of IFAC one must have earned a CPA – a credential the newly appointed head of the IAA does not have.
Nyeswa said the position do not call for the head to be a CPA and said he has served as a Deputy Director General for audit for more than five years.
“I was competitively recruited as Deputy Director General for audit for more than five years, how I’m not qualify to be the head of IAA but I was qualified to deputy director general for more than five years and you see the irony right, the position do not call for CPA, they law say professional accountant,” Nyeswa said.
Joshua Clement, an auditor told FrontPageAfrica, the IAA head must have and be capable of signing audit report.
“So that’s why it is require that head of audit institution must be qualified professional accountant, because your professional body will be on your case, you will be signing on audit report, to signed out on an audit report you have to be certified it like you can’t drive a car and don’t have license, you can’t practice law unless the supreme court qualify you as counsellor at the law,” Clement said.
But the newly appointed head of the IAA said that he has practice accounting for more than twenty years.
“I’m a professional accountant and I practice accounting in Liberia for more than twenty years, I was controller for FDA, I worked at GAC, I got a master’s degree in accountant I’m certified forensic auditor, I’m a member of the CIA certified Internal Auditor, this is a mere propaganda, I was recruited by international body and not the IAA,” Nyeswa said.
But Clement averred that to head the IAA, a person must be a member of Liberia certified accountant body adding that the newly appointed head is not part of.
“The head of the IAA must be a member of the Liberia Institute of Certified Accountant- LICPA, you going to meet your peers and you go out there and you are not a CPA, at the IAA…?
“When you produce an audit report, people will want to know who signed the audit and it is right to be a professional auditor,” Clement said.
“You have to be governed by special code of conduct and ethical training. it is an integrity area of accountability, and even in private auditing firms, heads are CPAs, this is an attack on IAA and it is intended to kill the professional entity.”