IAA calls on media… to ensure transparency and accountability

The Internal Audit Agency (IAA) on Tuesday called on the media to use its available resources to ensure transparency and accountability in public organisations as well as the private sector.

It thus tasked the media to hold public officials accountable in using the nation's resources efficiently to the growth of the country.

Speaking at a seminar dubbed- “The roll of the media in promoting Accountability and good Governance” in Accra, the Director General (DG) of IAA, Mr. Patrick Nomo, encouraged the media, as the fourth estate of the realm, to play a vital role in promoting good governance, and the work of the IAA should be understood in order to enhance the performance of the media's agenda setting and watch dog roles.

The DG said the IAA considers the media as a very important stakeholder and partner in the development of the nation's attainment of its goals and objectives.

Mr. Nomo emphasised that in making an organisation achieve its set target for a period, the Audit Report Implementation Committee's recommendations to management has to be taken seriously in order to add value to management's policies.

The committee is expected to demand from management to ensure that all recommendations by the auditor are actually implemented at the end of the said period.

The President of the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA), Mr. Ransford Tetteh said that, the media stands out today as an independent mouthpiece
representing the voice of the people and not the voice of any master, like it was before the advent of the Fourth Republican Constitution.

“The media landscape reflects the variety of political thinking in the country today and some threats exist to frustrate media freedom, our moral superiority and triumph against the enemies of a free media landscape, lie in the demonstration of higher sense of responsibility, accuracy and fairness”, he said.

Mr. Ransford Tetteh cited that the media has a duty to act as the peoples' agent in seeking the truth and uncovering falsehood and also by giving the people balanced information as a right in making informed social, economic and political choices that affect their lives.