Evaluating Management Support to the Internal Audit System in Bo District Council, Sierra Leone

Abstract

One of the daunting challenges facing the effective operations of Local Councils in Sierra Leone, particularly the Bo District Council is the quality of support services that drive accountability in the use of scarce financial resources. It is on this note that the study is intended to assess management supports towards the internal audit system. The study was conducted in Bo District Council located in the Southern Region of Sierra Leone. Bo District Council consists of 16 Chiefdoms, 25 Councilors, 3 Paramount Chiefs, 25 Wards, 16 Committees, 11 Constituencies, and 13 Core Staff Members. The secondary objectives were: 1) to assess the level of respondents' perceptions on management support to the internal audit system; 2) to identify the scale of management support to the internal audit effectiveness, and 3) to establish the relationship between management support and internal audit effectiveness. The instruments employed for data collection include: questionnaires and documentary analysis. The sample population of the study is thirteen (13) core staff members that represents the sample size of the study, and includes all the departments and units of the Bo District Council. The 13 core staff members were selected by stratified sampling selection technique. The study employed descriptive design and results discussed in qualitative and quantitative methods. The reliability test was conducted 0.765 using the Crumb Alpha Test and was considered valid. The key findings of the study include: Lack of full support to the audit committee; lack of independence of the internal audit system; insufficient allocation of budget. It is recommended that the Local Service Commission should let the internal audit system being independent by creating a directorate of the internal audit department.