12th Colloquium

Enhancing governance and accountability

in the public sector

The Auditor General’s role in delivering independent oversight,

fostering transparency, and ensuring the effective stewardship of public resources.

Background

Governance and accountability are the cornerstones of public trust and the effective functioning of governments. In the public sector, ensuring that resources are used efficiently, ethically, and in line with national priorities is essential for promoting transparency, enhancing service delivery, and safeguarding democracy.  At the center of this process lies the role of the Auditor General, whose independent oversight plays a critical role in ensuring that public institutions operate with integrity and responsibility.

 

This webinar will delve into the pivotal function of the Auditor General in upholding governance and accountability in the public sector. As the principal authority responsible for auditing public resources, the Auditor General’s role extends beyond examining financial records. It includes ensuring compliance with regulations, assessing operational performance, and identifying areas for improvement in governance.

 

Key focus areas will include:

  • Independent Oversight: How the Auditor General’s office provides unbiased assessments of government operations and financial management to prevent fraud, waste, and inefficiency.
  • Fostering Transparency: The ways in which auditing activities promote openness, enabling citizens and stakeholders to understand how public resources are managed.
  • Effective Stewardship: Ensuring that public resources are used not only in compliance with laws but also in a manner that maximizes public value and service delivery.
  • Challenges and Opportunities: Addressing the evolving challenges faced by audit institutions in a rapidly changing world, including technological advancements, corruption risks, and increasing public demand for accountability.

Join us for an in-depth discussion on how strengthening governance frameworks and enhancing the role of auditing can contribute to more transparent, accountable, and effective public sector management.

This webinar is particularly beneficial for public officials, policymakers, auditors, and professionals interested in public sector governance.

Prof. Mervyn King

Patron, Good Governance Academy

Mervyn King is a Senior Counsel, former Judge of the Supreme Court of South Africa, and designated Chartered Director (South Africa). He is Professor Extraordinaire at the University of South Africa, Honorary Professor at the Universities of Pretoria and Cape Town, and a Visiting Professor at Rhodes University. He has honorary Doctorates from Wits University and Stellenbosch University in South Africa, Leeds University in the UK, and Deakin University in Australia.

 

Mervyn is honorary fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales; the Institute of Internal Auditors of the UK; the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants; the Certified Public Accountants of Australia; the Chartered Institute of Public Relations of the UK, and the Chartered Secretaries and Administrators.

 

Mervyn is Chair Emeritus of the King Committee on Corporate Governance in South Africa, as well as of the Value Reporting Foundation (incorporating the International Integrated Reporting Council and SASB) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). He has received Lifetime Achievement Awards for promoting quality corporate governance globally, from several institutions.

 

Mervyn chairs the Good Law Foundation and has chaired the United Nations Committee of Eminent persons on Governance and Oversight. He is a member of the Private Sector Advisory Group to the World Bank on Corporate Governance and of the ICC Court of Arbitration in Paris. Mervyn currently chairs the African Integrated Reporting Council and the Integrated Reporting Committee of South Africa and is Patron of the Good Governance Academy.

 

Mervyn has been a chair, director and chief executive of several companies listed on the London, Luxembourg and Johannesburg Stock Exchanges. He has consulted, advised and spoken on legal, business, advertising, sustainability and corporate governance issues in over 60 countries and has received many awards from international bodies around the world including the World Federation of Stock Exchanges and the International Federation of Accountants.

 

He is the author of many books on governance, sustainability and reporting, the latest being “The Healthy Company.”

Alan Johnson

Chair of the Good Governance Academy

Alan Johnson is the immediate past President of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). He previously served as Deputy President from 2018-2020 and had been a board member since November 2015. He was nominated to the IFAC board by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

 

On January 1, 2021, Alan was appointed a non-executive director and member of the Audit and the Succession & Appointments Committees of Imperial Brands plc, a FTSE 100 company in the UK.

 

Alan is a former non-executive Director of Jerónimo Martins SGPS, S.A., a food retailer with operations in Portugal, Poland, and Colombia, having completed his board mandate in 2016. 

He is currently the independent chairman of the company’s Internal Control Committee. Previously he was Chief Financial Officer of Jerónimo Martins from 2012 to 2014.

 

Between 2005 and 2011 Alan served as Chief Audit Executive for the Unilever Group. He also served as Chief Financial Officer of Unilever’s Global Foods businesses and worked for Unilever for 35 years in various finance positions in Africa, Europe and Latin America.

 

Mr. Johnson was a member of the IFAC Professional Accountants in Business Committee between 2011 and 2015, a member of the ACCA’s Market Oversight Committee between 2006 and 2012 and chair of the ACCA Accountants for Business Global Forum until 2018. Alan was a member of the board of Gildat Strauss Israel between 2003 and 2004.

 

Mr. Johnson is the chair of the board of governors of St. Julian’s School in Portugal and chairs its Finance & Bursaries Committees.

 

In October 2016 he was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the International Valuation Standards Council and chairs its audit committee.

 

Between July 2018 and September 2020 he was a non-executive director of the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and chaired its Audit & Risk Assurance Committee.

Carolynn Chalmers

Chief Executive Officer, Good Governance Academy

Carolynn Chalmers is the Chief Executive Officer of Professor Mervyn King’s Good Governance Academy and its initiative, The ESG Exchange. She has edited two international standards: ISO 37000:2021 – Governance of organizations – Guidance and its associated Governance Maturity Model, ISO 37004:2023.

 

Carolynn makes corporate dreams come true, assisting leaders and leadership teams in how to create value for their organisations. She makes use of her expertise and experience in corporate governance, organizational strategy, Digital Transformation, and IT to do so.

 

Carolynn is an Independent Committee Member of South Africa’s largest private Pension Fund, the Eskom Pension and Provident Fund, and recently retired as Independent Committee member of several board committees for the Government Employee Medical Scheme. Carolynn has extensive management, assurance and governance experience and has held various Executive roles for international, listed, private and public organisations across many industries.

 

Carolynn is best known for her successes in establishing governance frameworks, and designing and the leading large, complex initiatives that can result. She attributes this success to the application of good governance principles. She shares her insights on her 2 LinkedIn Groups – Applying King IV and Corporate Governance Institute. 

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