Internal Auditing in Businesses and Higher Education Institutions: Implications for Fighting Corrupt

Internal Auditing in Businesses and Higher Education Institutions: Implications for Fighting Corruption 

Published on May 12, 2019

Ali Mansouri Status is online

Page 1 of 13

Ali Mansouri Writer, Researcher, Consultant

Introduction Internal auditing has been long recognized as a key factor in the survival and success of companies, corporations, higher education institutions, and other types of organizations. In general terms, internal auditing is a continuous process of evaluating the organization’s management of risk in order to avoid problems and crises when malpractices and mismanagement continue in the absence of proper audits.

The role of the internal auditor is thus to look beyond financial statements and financial-related auditing into all the areas that constitute risks to the organization’s existence such as its reputation, supplier chains, health and safety risks, human resources, information technology, facilities management, customer service, and program management. For example, there will be a very high risk when the organization treats its customers unfairly or the management resorts to deceiving the customers in order to make profits without any consideration to professional honesty and international code of work ethics.

To evaluate how well risks are managed in an organization, the internal auditor has the duty of assessing the effectiveness of risk management processes, systems of internal control, and governance and will then write objective and independent reports to the most senior level of executive management and to the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors.

The internal auditor thus needs to be an independent, unbiased, and objective assessor who should not be under the influence of the senior management in the organization even though he is an employee of the organization itself. Unfortunately, this is often not the case. The internal auditor may be under the influence of some senior managers who control him and dictate to him how to fabricate the reports to conceal their fraud or corruption. This is especially true when the internal auditor is an expatriate employee who puts his own personal interests and the renewal of his work contract above the genuine interests of the company or the institution. This may result in grave consequences and may lead to the total collapse of the organization.

Definition According to the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), internal auditing is: " an independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve an organization's operations. It helps an organization accomplish its objectives by bringing a Page 2 of 13

systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control, and governance processes."

This is a globally accepted definition of internal auditing which entails the following tasks: 1.

An independent review of the organization’s business operations.

2.

An objective evaluation of risk management procedures.

3.

Effective protection against fraud, theft, and corruption.

4.

A tool for ensuring that the organization is complying with all relevant regulations and laws.

5. An opportunity to offer informed recommendations based on actual, field investigations to improve internal control systems and governance processes.

Scope The scope of internal auditing within an organization is broad and involves areas such as the governance of the organization, risk management, management control systems of operations, reliability of financial and management reporting, and compliance with all the legal requirements of operating the business or the institution. Internal auditing may also involve conducting proactive fraud audits to help the organization identify any potentially fraudulent acts that executive senior managers may engage in on the hope of safeguarding the company’s assets and preventing any financial loss, fraud or corruption.

The main goal of the internal auditing team is to gather reliable, truthful information that can be the source of valuable insights into how the organization can be managed effectively. This can be achieved through objective, unbiased field investigations of all the departments and areas of operations and systems of control. The analyzed collected data are to be included in reports characterized by being objective, clear, and concise. The internal auditor should also use his professional expertise and judgment to offer recommendations and advice for improvement if necessary.

In order to gather reliable and truthful information for their audits, internal auditors need to perform many important, interrelated tasks some of which are the following: 

Conducting special studies



Analyzing business policies, processes, and procedures



Defining audit objectives



Deciding the nature and extent of the audit procedures



Stating final opinions and conclusions Page 3 of 13



Reporting and distributing findings to the board and relevant senior management

As has already been mentioned, one of the most important aspects of the internal auditor’s job is the ability to perform these tasks in an objective, independent and unbiased manner. If any senior manager exercises pressure or influence of any sort over the internal audit team in order to conceal the truth or fabricate the reports, the organization will naturally be deprived of the benefits associated with objective, honest internal audits.

Companies and other organizations can help internal auditing achieve objectivity and independence by employing auditors who do not serve in any other capacity within the organization. The internal auditor should report to a special committee within the Board of Directors or Board of Trustees and should not report to an executive senior manager like the company’s managing director or the university’s Vice-Chancellor or Assistant Vice Chancellor who may be involved in irregularities, fraud, theft or corruption and want the internal auditors to write dishonest fabricated reports.

To be effective, the internal auditor must be qualified, skilled, and experienced and is prepared to work in accordance with the genuine interests of the organization, the Code of Ethics and the International Standards of Internal Auditing.

Value “In the days following the collapse of Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns, the one thing financial examiners seemed to agree on was that the cause was, at least in part, a failure to implement or respond to proper internal auditing practices. Although what's come to light reveals a much more complex and systemic series of failures, it's clear that if the basic tenets of internal auditing had been put into practice and internal controls respected, the firms would not have exposed themselves to such unreasonable risk.” (AccountingEdu.Organization) “Internal Audit takes a holistic view of risks that considers internal, external and emerging risk factors. The function has a thorough understanding of the company’s risk culture, the risk appetite of the business, and regulatory and legal requirements. Internal Audit invests the appropriate time to perform a dynamic risk assessment that encompasses top-down, strategic perspectives focused on identifying the most critical risks facing the business today and in the future.” (PWC State of the Internal Audit Study 2014-2016) (PwC is the brand under which the member firms of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited (PwCIL) operate and provide professional services.)

This is the most significant value a company or an organization can get from an independent, objective internal audit. These audits can alarm the highest level of management of the risks that face the organization and how to deal with them effectively before it is too late. The internal auditor can act here as a consultant or an informed advisor who is able to indicate high-risk areas and potential fraud and losses that may threaten the very existence of the company or its success.

Internal auditing is thus a “warning system” for the company and a catalyst for improving an organization's governance, risk management, and management controls by providing insight and Page 4 of 13

recommendations based on analyses and evaluation of real, objective data obtained by field study and investigation of business operations. With a commitment to integrity, independence, and objectivity, internal auditing provides unlimited value to high-level management and governing bodies as an objective source of independent advice and consultation. Without this commitment, the internal audits will be a huge waste of time and money.

Internal vs. External Auditing Internal auditing deals with all performance areas that are important to the survival and success of the organization including the financial risks. It also deals with the systems of control, mechanisms, management of the human resources and organization’s assets, and methods of governance, that is, internal auditing is thus very broad and is not limited to financial issues. This is usually done by the Internal Audit department or unit which is supposed to follow international standards and the Code of Ethics that lays down the principles of integrity, honesty, impartiality, objectivity, independence, and transparency which internal auditors must abide by in order to promote and uphold the ethical culture within the profession.

External auditing, on the other hand, is limited to financial risks and is usually done by a third party. The following points may clarify the differences between the two types of auditing: 

Internal audits are not a one-off event. They are not restricted to one single annual audit but rather conducted throughout the year. External audits are usually carried out annually.



Internal auditors are generally, but not always, internal company employees while external auditors are always a third-party independent of the organization.



Internal audit reports are used by senior management and governing bodies, while external audit reports are used by investors, stakeholders, and other parties.



Internal auditors are required to provide recommendations and consulting services to the organization to improve performance while external auditors are not required to provide any consulting services. They provide financial reports only.

A’Sharqiyah University: A Bad Example The Director of the Internal Audit Unit (Chief Internal Auditor) at A’Sharqiyah University in Oman is a glaring example of an internal auditor whom all companies and organizations try their best to avoid. He is an unqualified, incompetent, unskilled, and dishonest auditor who has nothing to do with the profession of internal auditing. He has proved himself a hypocrite and a “stooge” for Abood Al-Sawafi (former VC) and Hamed Al-Hajri (Assistant VC). Because of his sickening dishonesty, A’Sharqiyah University has been facing high risks threatening its existence and its success as a respected academic institution. There have been many episodes and too many documents which prove beyond any doubt that this chief internal auditor is a “rogue”, a big liar and a dishonest auditor who is prepared to submit fake, dishonest reports to cover up the corruption of Abood Al-Sawafi and Hamed Al-Hajri in return for the renewal of his work contract. I would narrate some of the episodes here.

Page 5 of 13

Episode 1: Embezzlement of Millions of Dollars One day, this Chief Internal auditor “spilled the beans” - he told me a secret, out of stupidity and showing off. He told me that he caught one of the accountants with a “special account” of more than a million Omani rials (about $2.6 million) which he was using for his own interests and expenses in the name of the University. In other words, the accountant was caught in the act of embezzling money from the budget of the university, but he did nothing to report him! Does anyone believe that an accountant at a university can have a “special account” with this huge amount of money without the approval and knowledge of Abood Al-Sawafi (VC) and Hamed AlHajri (Assistant VC for Administration and Finance) who have always been in full control of everything at the University? If this accountant was able to hold a special account with about three million US dollars, what then about Abood Al- Sawafi and Hamed Hajri themselves? How many “special” bank accounts with how many millions of dollars did they have then? How much money does Hamed Al-Hajri embezzle every day from the University? This is a blatant example of embezzlement and corruption which the Chief Internal Auditor and his team should have reported to the Board of Directors and Board of Trustees unless they know everything and are themselves corrupt people!

Episode 2: Overtime Hours for Foundation Teachers One day I received an email from a person I did not know. The email was written in broken English and full of confused ideas. I could barely understand the gist of the message. The man wanted to object to the payment of the “overtime hours” to the Foundation Program teachers at the Language Center. I was really surprised because the teachers had not been paid their overtime hours for almost two years in spite of the fact that they had the highest teaching loads at the University. While a teacher holding an M.A. working at a college had a teaching load of 12 hours per week, the Foundation teacher with the same qualifications, or even better, had a teaching load of 20-25 hours per week! Look at the difference. Almost every Foundation Program teacher was teaching 30 hours per week in addition to another heavy load of supervising tests, quizzes, exams, and advising students. Simply put, the teachers were working non-stop like slaves or robots. In spite of that, this man wanted to deprive them of their basic rights to the payment of the overtime hours they had done.

I asked the man about his position at A’Sharqiyah University and he told me he was the Chief Internal Auditor of the University. He added that he wanted to investigate the system according to which the overtime hours were being paid to the Foundation teachers. I gave him a brief account about “the system” which was not really a system; it was just a simple method of calculations done entirely by hand because Abood Al-Sawafi, the then VC, and Hamed Al-Hajri, Assistant VC, were so stingy that they refused to buy any technology to help us do our work.

The following day, the man came to visit us to do his investigation. I received him in my office and I gave him more details about our manual method of calculations. From his questions, I could clearly see that he was very dull and incapable of understanding anything! His English is incomprehensible and his ideas and thoughts are completely unrelated to his job as a Chief Internal Auditor. He is more fit to work as a fishmonger than as a Chief Internal Auditor.

Page 6 of 13

He spent the rest of the day meeting and talking to the General Coordinator in charge of the overtime hours and to the other coordinators and teachers. He spent more than four months meeting and talking to everybody again and again. He collected all our teaching and exams schedules, overtime sheets, teachers’ and students’ attendance sheets, and almost every other document related or unrelated to the overtime hours. Everyone was annoyed by him because we did not know what he was after, especially there was no money paid and that all overtime hours are meticulously checked by the General Coordinator, the Director of the Language Center, the payroll accountant, and the Chief Accountant.

After more than four months, we heard from the Accounting Department that this so-called “Chief Internal Auditor” had found out that the total payment for the teachers should be 10 Omani rials more than in the sheets! What a great achievement! We did not receive any report nor did we receive any recommendations or advice about how to improve our method of overtime calculations. Is this not a disaster for any organization? Is this not a waste of time and money? The man still works as the Chief Internal Auditor at A’Sharqiyah university!

Episode 3: Books Committee Some time ago, Abood Al-Sawafi issued a ‘university directive’ to form a Books Committee to look into the disappearance of thousands and thousands of A’Sharqiyah University books, CDs, and other teaching materials. Everybody knew then that Hamed Al-Hajri (Assistant VC) was directly responsible for the disappearance of these books which cost the University more than one million dollars. I was the Chairman of the Committee and there were three other members: the then Deputy Director of the Procurement Department, the Director of the University Library, and the Chief Internal Auditor.

We held a series of meetings to discuss the disappearance of the books, CDs, and other teaching materials. I gave the Committee a brief account of what happened and I explained how Hamed Al-Hajri had moved the books and the materials without official consent from the VC and without any coordination with me as the Director of the Language Center or the Coordinators of the Foundation Program. We wanted to include this piece of information in our final report but the Chief Internal Auditor (A.R.) refused to include it in order to protect Hamed Al-Hajri who was his administrative boss because he was afraid his boss will not renew his work contract. Is this man an honest Chief Internal Auditor who should report everything to the Board of Directors and the Board of Trustees?

We finished the report and I submitted it with our signatures to the VC as per the regulations. We expected the VC to discuss it with us. He did not. He discussed it with the Chief Internal Auditor.

After a while, and just by chance, I came across another version of our report which the Chief Internal Auditor had submitted to the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors. This version hardly resembled our report! It was completely fabricated and gave false numbers in order to cover-up Hamed Al-Hajri and Abood Al-Sawafi. This is sickening dishonesty.

Episode 4: Forgery and Deception

Page 7 of 13

There is a great deal of forgery and deception that have been going on since Abood Al-Sawafi and Hamed Al-Hajri were appointed as senior managers at A’Sharqiyah University. There has been forgery of students’ grades, employees’ salaries, purchase receipts and documents, teachers’ qualifications, tuition fees, numbers of students at the colleges, HR documents, financial statements and bank accounts, salaries and bonuses of Abood Al-Sawafi and Hamed Al-Hajri and their relatives working at the University - almost everything!

There has also been great deception regarding the Foundation Program, the study programs and most of the academic aspects of the University’s operations.

In spite of these high risks, the Chief Internal Auditor has always been conspiring with Abood Al-Sawafi, Hamed Al-Hajri, and the HR Director to write dishonest reports to conceal this forgery and deception in return for a very large salary and the renewal of his work contract. He receives the second-highest salary at the University, after his corrupt boss Abood Al-Sawafi, with many allowances and bonuses. He is also rewarded by reporting to work only once or twice a week.

Episode 5: Toxic Work Environment Abood Al-Sawafi (former VC) and Hamed Al-Hajri (Assistant VC) have created a toxic work environment unprecedented in any higher education institution in the world. The following are a few points about this toxic environment: 

Abood Al-Sawafi used to go on expensive, luxurious, and useless trips around the world at the expense of A’Sharqiyah University wasting the shareholders’ money as well as the public money. Most of the students’ tuition fees at A’Sharqiyah University are paid by the Ministry of Higher Education in Oman as per the “internal scholarship scheme” whereby large numbers of Omani students pursue their higher education at the expense of the Ministry. Abood Al-Sawafi did not use to go alone. He used to take some members of the Board of Directors and Board of Trustees on these trips as a way of “bribing” them to keep them silent and to be complacent about his corruption. Where is the Chief Internal Auditor? Where is his courage and where are his independent, objective reports?



Teachers are required by arbitrary instructions from Abood Al-Sawafi and Hamed AlHajri to work from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. or even 9 p.m. non-stop in violation of Oman Labor Law.



Teachers and employees are not allowed to leave the campus for whatever reason even if they do not have any lessons or lectures!



Teaching between 20 to 25 classroom hours and sometimes up to 30 teaching hours without any overtime or compensation of any sort. This does not happen even in primary schools!



Teachers’ offices are unreasonably crowded creating a very unhealthy environment for the teachers who pass their “infectious” diseases to one another. These offices, especially Page 8 of 13

for the Foundation Program Teachers, are too small like pigeonholes where teachers can hardly move. And because of the long hours of work, most teachers suffer from depression, heart diseases, hepatitis, hemorrhoids, and even mental disorder! 

Many teachers are allocated offices in Porta Cabins that are very dirty and full of insects, rats, scorpions, and snakes!



Healthcare facilities are almost non-existent on campus. Teachers and students need to arrange to go outside of campus to very poor clinics or hospitals with very unqualified staff and outdated medical equipment.



Teachers are low-paid with salaries less than those of cleaners in a modest cleaning company in the capital city. They are “penniless” most of the days of the month whereas the senior managers, like Abood Al-Sawafi (VC) and Hamed Al-Hajri (Assistant VC) get very high salaries for doing almost nothing and come only once a week or even once a month to the University.



Teachers are constantly abused by stupid, silly, vulgar, and awkward directives from Abood Al-Sawafi, Hamed Al-Hajri, and the Director of the HR department. Most of these directives are disrespectful and threatening and many of them are nothing more than an insult to human intelligence.



Teachers and other members of staff are tied to the jobs by work contracts and obsolete practices remnants of the slavery practices of the Middle Ages!



Hamed Al-Hajri (Assistant VC) has been refusing to buy new textbooks for the Foundation Program students in spite of the fact that the University receives the costs of the books from the Ministry of Higher Education and from the self-sponsored students.

This has been going on for many years and because of the repeated re-use, the books have become very old, torn-out and unsuitable. All the exercises in the books had been solved by former students so the new students do not find these exercises challenging or useful for learning English as the exercises contain all the answers. This has been one of the reasons for the deteriorating level of learning English in the Foundation Program at the University and the underachievement of the students in the academic programs.



The maximum class size in the original Foundation Program must be no more than 20 students in accordance with the national and international standards. But the size of the classes has been increased by Abood Al-Sawafi and Hamed Al-Hajri to more than 35 or even more than 40 making the program a real joke --a mere waste of time and money.



All the international requirements and benchmarks have been canceled by Abood AlSawafi and Hamed Al-Hajri. The benchmarks are now “absolute zero”: no TOEFL, no IELTS, no Cambridge Certificate, no ICDL, no IC3 – nothing at all! What is the worth of a program or a degree without any international benchmarks?

Page 9 of 13



There are many teachers, especially in the Foundation Program, who do not follow the official timing of lessons or lectures. They come late to classes and leave after teaching for a short time; maybe 20 minutes or 30 minutes instead of the official timing of 100 minutes! Others skip lessons without being held accountable. In spite of that, their work contracts are renewed by Hamed Al-Hajri every year because they pay bribes to Hamed Al-Hajri and to the HR Director.



Instead of teaching the language skills using very relevant and attractively designed books from international publishers, he decided to use only one book. He replaced the Foundation Program Syllabus approved by the Oman Ministry of Higher Education with a very weak syllabus lower than that of an intermediate school—just to make more money.



The healthcare insurance offered by A’Sharqiyah University is very weak. It excludes from the medical coverage a large number of illnesses and diseases, and it excludes even the costs of the consultation and the medical tests for these diseases.



There is no educational planning and no link or connections with the job market. Because of the incompetence and corruption of Abood Al-Sawafi and Hamed Al-Hajri, A’Sharqiyah University now offers the students worthless pieces of paper that are, mistakenly, called “degrees” and “certificates”. Instead of graduating qualified and skilled human resources badly needed for the development of the country, they add more unemployable young men and women.



Because they are unqualified, incompetent and corrupt, you find them very impolite, vulgar and uncivilized. They cannot stand any disagreement or argument. They treat you like a slave or a puppet! They, mistakenly, think that they “own” you as long as they pay you a salary. You feel humiliated and insulted when you talk to them or deal with them.

They should be ashamed of themselves. And because they are academically and morally bankrupt, they spread a very disgusting culture of fear and hypocrisy. One wonders how Abood Al-Sawafi and Hamed Al-Hajri have crept into high positions in this disgusting way and how they continue to be “covered up” by the Internal Audit unit to be so negative and destructive.



There is hardly any freedom of expression, academic or non-academic, of any sort at A’Sharqiyah University because of Abood Al-Sawafi and Hamed Al-Hajri. The moment you disagree with them or you give a different opinion, you should expect your work contract to be terminated or not renewed even if you are right and your opinions are in line with the official standards and guidelines set up by the educational authorities and the organization itself. You find out, to your astonishment, that Abood Al-Sawafi and Hamed Al-Hajri mistakenly think they cannot be held to account and they are “above the law”!!



Rules and regulations are essential tools to keep work moving smoothly and without problems. But they do not have to be shortsighted, awkward and stupid. They annoy good employees and drive them crazy. When good employees feel they are being watched for Page 10 of 13

everything by “spies” planted everywhere by Abood Al-Sawafi and Hamed Al-Hajri, they will look for another job. This is one reason for the high rate of turnover among the University staff. 

Abood Al-Sawafi and Hamed Al-Hajri have become “experts” in stifling transparency and fostering a disgusting culture of fear. Transparency has been replaced by what is mistakenly called the “respect" for confidentiality and the "secrets" of the organization, though these so-called “secrets” are merely information and guidelines needed by the teachers and staff to do their job properly. The values of honesty, justice, and fairness have become words difficult to understand, let alone to be practiced. Abood Al-Sawafi and Hamed Al-Hajri would tell you to your face: “We are the decision-makers and we will do what we like.” This is all done in the name of A’Sharqiyah University.

Everything is secretive and confidential. They pay only lip-service to the concept of transparency. Most employees do their routine jobs blindly as they are told and many teachers think that their job is just to go to class and teach the textbook and submit the marks the students have got by hook or by crook. Employees and teachers are too frightened to speak out. Transparency is not something they are after or something they need to worry about, especially when you have impolite and ruthless senior managers like Abood Al-Sawafi and Hamed Al-Hajri who, unashamedly, tell you, “Keep your opinion to yourself. We do not want you to think. We will think for you!”



This is a very gloomy picture indeed but it is real and regrettable. The unhealthy environment created by the absence or lack of transparency has given way to backbiting, hypocrisy, and conspiracies among teachers and staff.

The list is endless. So are my articles. It will take thousands and thousands of pages to document everything. There are also other episodes mentioned in my article: “Who Is This Man?”: Implications for the Management of Businesses and Higher Education Institutions” published on October 31, 2018.

Fighting or Promoting Corruption?

All these episodes and actions constitute high-risk areas for A’Sharqiyah University. They should have been reported to the Board of Directors and Board of Trustees by the Chief Internal Auditor (Director of the Internal Audit Department) but he has never done so because he is dishonest, hypocrite, and a coward. He has always put his own interests above the genuine interests of the University. He is thus promoting corruption at the University instead of fighting it. He has become an integral part of the corruption problem. The shareholders have the right to know all the details.

Corruption does not exist in a vacuum. It is usually committed by senior managers who cheat the systems of control and supervision and do not respect any laws or regulations. They are usually entrusted with a range of executive powers but they always betray this trust and go beyond these powers for selfish purposes. The performance of all senior managers in any business or a higher education institution needs to be checked, observed and supervised by independent entities and officials. They should not be left to manage the businesses or institutions according to their Page 11 of 13

whims, self-interests and personal relationships. The Internal Audit department or unit in any organization has a great role to play here by reporting everything to the highest level of governors.

The reputation of A’Sharqiyah University has been going down the drain and the students, their parents, and the community at large have come to know a great deal about what has been happening and what sort of damage being inflicted by Abood Al-Sawafi and Hamed Al-Hajri on the University. It makes you feel very sad to come to know that the students are paying a very heavy price for the incompetence, bad management, and corruption of Abood Al-Sawafi and Hamed Al-Hajri. Even the Police Force and the Military now do not recognize the certificates and degrees from A’Sharqiyah University! Everything is being destroyed because of the rotten and “fish market” mentality of these two monsters who are extremely nasty examples of morally bankrupt employers practicing modern-day slavery in a very ugly way.

We have already said that “the internal auditor thus needs to be an independent, unbiased, and objective assessor who should not be under the influence of the senior management in the organization even though he is an employee of the organization itself.” But, unfortunately, this is not the case at A’Sharqiyah University. The Chief Internal Auditor has nothing of the qualities of a professional internal auditor; he has all the qualities of a foolish clown and a mean conspirator.

“Auditing professional bodies say they will “aggressively drive changes” to salvage their image in 2019…. Jaco de Jager, chief audit executive in the Association of Fraud Examiners SA, said 26 professional bodies had joined forces to minimize instances where “a guy who was working in the police office filling [in] charge sheets suddenly becomes a financial statement expert” in public institutions.” “The fraud examiner will start issuing reports to point out if the organization does not have qualified staff that belongs to professional bodies,” he said. (BusinessDay, 04 FEBRUARY 2019). This is what has happened at A’Sharqiyah University. A junior clerk with a very limited experience as a bus driver in a bus company has suddenly become the Director of the Internal Auditing Unit (Chief Internal Auditor) at the University not to do his job professionally but to cover-up the corruption of Abood Al-Sawafi, Hamed Al-Hajri, and other senior managers in return for a large salary and the renewal of his work contract.

Conclusions The most important part of an internal auditor’s job is the ability to perform an independent, objective and impartial evaluation in order to report high-risk areas to the highest levels of management and governance. Organizations should try their best to ensure that nothing must get in the way of the internal auditor or internal auditing team remaining objective which limits the team’s effectiveness and reduces their value to the organization. This risk can be reduced by making sure internal auditors have the courage and honesty of professional auditors who value their own job and do not seek to achieve personal gains from their reports such as the renewals of work contracts.

Page 12 of 13

An internal auditor’s knowledge of the management of risk also enables him or her to act as a consultant providing advice and acting as a catalyst for improvement in the organization’s practices.

The Internal Audit Department or unit can play a vital role in the survival and success of the organization provided it is headed by a qualified, competent, and honest director or a chief internal auditor and is well-staffed and equipped. The Department should have access to all other departments and documents and should act in an objective and independent way for the genuine interests of the organization. Unfortunately, the Chief Internal Auditor at A’Sharqiyah University (called “Director of Internal Audit Unit”) has been a very dishonest, cunning person. He has been acting like an “internal snake” rather than an honest internal auditor. He has been a big liar and a cheat, hiding the true picture and trying his best to appease the senior management, especially Abood Al-Sawafi and Hamed Al-Hajri, for his own selfish interests in order to get his work contract renewed in return for his dishonesty and fabricated reports. He has proved himself a foolish clown rather than an honest chief internal auditor. This can have very grave consequences for the survival and future of A’Sharqiyah University.

When a college or a university, anywhere in the world, is run by a “gang of thieves” and unqualified, incompetent and dishonest people who are academically and morally bankrupt and take arbitrary decisions based on fabricated documents rather than on actual facts, the whole process of internal auditing does not really mean anything except a waste of time and money!

Corruption does not occur through abstract systems. It is clearly insufficient to reform the financial and operational systems and eliminate the loopholes through which companies and individuals practice corruption. Systems are only procedures and mechanisms operated by individuals. These individuals, if they are dishonest and morally corrupt, will be able to defeat any system however robust it is. This applies to chief internal auditors as it applies to other senior managers.

Page 13 of 13