Internal control and fraud prevention in government institutions. a case study of the office of the prime minister

Abstract

This study aimed at establishing the relationship between internal controls and fraud prevention in Government Institutions specially in the office of the Prime Minister.This study was guided by the following objectives to examine the relationship between system evaluation and fraud prevention , to examine the methods of accountability used to prevent fraud in the office of the Prime Minister; to establish the relationship between control activities and fraud Prevention: to identify strategies for preventing fraud in the office of the Prime Minister and to establish the relationship between environmental influence and fraud prevention.

The study employed a cross sectional survey design since the data was collected a cross section of selected departments. 126 respondents who participated in the study were sellected through purposive and simple random sampling among the Directors, under secretaries. technical staff. and support staff. Several methods were used to collect data: self-administered questionnaires, interviews, review of primary documents and secondary literature.

Findings revealed that there was a positive significant relationship between all the study variables of internal controls and fraud prevention. Results showed that internal controls influence fraud prevention. It is therefore recommended that government should allow separation of duties and set up strong structures of system evaluations and account Ability strategies which are periodically monitored by external bodies like the Inspector General of Government, auditor General and others in addition to refresher trainings to employees and empowering the internal auditors. It thus be concluded that internal control systems have a direct bearing on fraud prevention.