The Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana is challenging members working in public institutions not to compromise on their mandate to protect the public purse and seal all leakages that deny the country of adequate revenue for economic development.

Ghana is estimated to lose 3 billion cedis annually to corruption, embezzlement, and illicit financial flows, stagnating national growth for the country.

President of the Association, Augustine Addo, says members must uphold the values of morality and integrity to strictly enforce their professional mandate in saving up the billions of lost funds.

On promoting professional conduct, leadership of the association challenged members to live up to their mandate, especially in recent times of whopping revenue losses and leakages.

President of the ICAG, Augustine Addo, advises that accountants must enforce their legal authority to smoke out perpetrators.

He further admonished members to uphold their core duties and values as professionals to manage both public and corporate funds.

“The accountant must make sure that the laws are complied with. If they identify any possible leakage, they must institute control measures to mitigate them. If they refuse to do that, they will be culpable,” he said.

The 40th anniversary launch of the Kumasi district society of the Institute of Chartered Accountants-Ghana assembled members in both private and public institutions to reflect on the 4-decade long existence of the local chapter.

With the influx of unqualified accountants in the system, the association says it will not hesitate in meting out sanctions against practitioners found culpable of flouting the laws of the profession.

“We are supposed to facilitate in the protection of the public purse. There are professional accountants and those who aren’t. If we found out the chartered accountant have flouted any of the laws, the association doesn’t hesitate in punishing them,” Kumasi District Society President of ICAG, David Abbam Agyei noted.

The group has earmarked a series of activities for the anniversary celebration, including a health walk in May, public lecture an Industry forum, and other community-focused programs.

The association has observed a declining interest in accounting programs at pre-tertiary education levels over the past few years.

In whipping up interests in the field, the group, as part of their activities, is intensifying educational campaigns to reach out to students in basic schools to build a strong foundation and increase numbers for the profession.

A dinner and award ceremony is expected to be held later in the year to climax activities marking the 40th anniversary celebration.

The anniversary is being held on the theme: “40 years of upholding integrity, separating our past and empowering the next generation of accountants”.