ICAG Will Assist Government to Protect Public Purse for National Development--Sottie

The Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana (ICAG) has, since its inception 54 years ago, made a lot of strides in its bid to contribute to national development and to put Ghana on the world professional map, Mr Christian Sottie, President, ICAG, has stated.

Mr Sottie, who was addressing a news conference in Accra, yesterday, as part of activities marking this year's Annual Accountants' Week, reiterated the commitment of ICAG to assisting government to protect the public purse.

He reminded members of the Institute that the motto of the Institute "Integrity" remained a key ingredient in the fight against corruption.

He disclosed that the current membership of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana (ICAG) stood at 5, 130, adding that as at December 31, 2016, the Institute had admitted 5,316 into membership, 186 of which were deceased.

Mr Sottie said Chartered Accountants produced by ICAG were serving in various capacities in key sectors of the Ghanaian economy.

He said products of ICAG could be found in public practice as statutory auditors, in academia as lecturers, in business as entrepreneurs, financial analysts, chief executive officers and chief internal auditors, and in politics as ministers of state and members of parliament.

He expressed concern about the litany of corporate scandals, but was quick to add that most of the scandals were wrongly attributed to members of ICAG.

Mr Sottie, therefore, urged the media to distinguish between Accountants and Chartered Accountants, and explained that only qualified members of the Institute, admitted to membership under the Institute of Chartered Accountants Act, 1963 (Act 170), qualified to be called Chartered Accountants and to use the title 'Chartered Accountants'.

He said the Institute would not relent in its resolve to explore more growth opportunities and to improve on its professional examinations. "High quality accountancy education and quality Continuous Professional Development (CPD) are core components of a successful qualification," he added.

He said from very few persons qualifying at each examination sitting, more than 300 candidates now qualified at a sitting, with over 18,000 students writing the Institute's examinations across the 10 administrative regions of Ghana as well in Liberia, United Kingdom and the United States of America.

Mr Sottie disclosed that ICAG, with support from the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), was making a number of changes to move ICAG qualification into the top league of accountancy qualifications which would include practical and ethical development training.

He said the Institute had, therefore, introduced the Authorized Training Employer Scheme which would be launched this year, under a pilot scheme, to be followed by a full roll out in 2018 for any organization wishing to train ICAG students.

He disclosed that beginning July, this year, ICAG Accountancy School, which had been run as a Department of ICAG, would be known as the College of Accountancy and run separately from the ICAG Secretariat. "It is a long-term intention of the Institute that the ICAG College should operate as a semi or fully independent institution. A key step in this process has been to create an independent committee reporting to Council responsible for the oversight of the College," Mr Sottie explained.

This year's Annual Accountants' Week celebrations of ICAG began with a Health Walk and fun games in Accra.

Other activities planned for the celebrations include a Thanks-giving Church Service, News Conference, Annual Accountants' Conference, Annual General Meeting (AGM) and an Awards Night and Dinner Dance and Ball.

Source: ISD (G.D. Zaney)

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