Internal auditors in government institutions are threatened and harassed by their bosses who want to override the system, an official has said.

Internal auditors monitor how public funds are managed and report all wrong entries to avoid embezzlements.

Manasseh Twahirwa Government Chief Internal Auditor said that they have different cases where internal auditors are harassed and fired from their work with a recent case cited in Nyamasheke district in Western Province.

"Some people in higher positions of government are greedy and overriding the system threatening those who want to hold them accountable,” Twahirwa said.

Government has empowered internal auditors through numerous trainings exercises on different laws and regulations like internal audit regulations and tendering procedures to ensure that public finances are managed and accounted for properly.

The chief government auditor said that internal auditors lack confidence but urged them to be professional if they are to change how public expenditure is managed.

"The collaboration between auditors and top managers is still low but hope by June next year they will be confident enough to reverse the trend,” he said.

Twahirwa added that government has taken appropriate measures to strengthen Public Financial Management. Setting up the Government Internal Audit function is one of the measures.

Ends