KAMPALA — Police Sacco boss has praised the scrutiny by experts at Financial Reporting Awards (FiRe Awards) and described it as an opportunity for enterprises to grow in key areas of business management including building trust and client confidence among others.
Speaking at the sidelines of the much sought-after FiRe Awards, ASP Eddy Sekanjako, the Exodus board treasurer told reporters that participating in the award had helped to comply with various statues and regulatory requirements.
Sekanjako said Exodus Sacco which was named the Most Improved Entity in Financial Reporting in Uganda had improved because of the FiRe Awards evaluator’s feedback and scrutiny in previous editions.
The awards committee, a make of certified public accounts and financial experts indicated that Exodus Sacco had addressed audit flaws identified and demonstrated commitment to embracing best practices in corporate reporting.
Exodus which boasts of over 28000 members, is the forces’ third biggest financial cooperative in the country, after the Uganda People’s Defense Forces’ Wazalendo SACCO, and the Uganda Prison Services’ SACCO.
With savings of up to Shs.200billion, Wazalendo is Uganda’s biggest financial cooperative, while at an assets’ worth of shs.6billion and 9,385 members strong, the Prison Services’ SACCO is not in bad standing either.
But unlike the two, the Police SACCO has for long been beset by controversy, ranging from allegations of improper accountability to members’ failure to have timely access to their savings.
Sekanjako said all these have changed since the new administration took charge of the Sacco.
He said the new board has made a huge progress and improved liquidity.
The financial reporting award is an annual event jointly organised by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU), Capital Markets Authority and Uganda Securities Exchange to encourage financial reporting by both public and private companies.
The organisations are required to file financial statements to regulatory bodies or government agencies. In case of listed companies, quarterly as well as annual results are required to be filed to stock exchanges and published.
The Financial Reporting Awards which took place on Thursday November 10 at the Hotel Africana in Kampala saw the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) emerge the overall winner of this year’s Financial Reporting (FiRe) awards.
Stanbic Bank Uganda, the country’s largest lender followed suit, winning the report of the year silver award.
We also won the;
?2022 Bronze Award for Excellence in Integrated Reporting.
?Certificate of recognition for outstanding achievement in Sustainability Reporting.
?Certificate of recognition for outstanding achievement in Corporate Governance Reporting. #FiReAwards22 pic.twitter.com/yLPU4IiL7q— Centenary Bank (@CentenaryBank) November 11, 2022
Centenary Bank won Bronze award.
CPA Stephen Ineget, chairman of the FiRE awards committee and vice president of the ICPAU, said they considered issues such as, how the organisation is governed in terms of board composition and active participation among others, how organisations address Human Resource matters, how they support the communities in which they operate, how they preserve the environment, and ultimately, how they deliver value to all stakeholders.
Ineget said NSSF also demonstrated most faithfully their commitment to matters of Environmental, Social and Governance.
He said the Committee found that entities still had some ground to cover in fully appreciating the purpose and content of an integrated report.
Thank you @CmaUganda & @USEUganda for recognising us in the recent #FiReAwards22.
We were;
Winner- Best Listed Entity Category
Winner- Sustainability Category
Winner- Corporate governance category. #ItCanBe pic.twitter.com/kak7r4P9Ch— Stanbic Bank Uganda (@stanbicug) November 11, 2022
CPA Constantine Mayende, the President of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants said good financial reporting is a key enabler of prudent decision making, and as a Country, the Government and other stakeholders rely on information to make decisions.
“Such information is best provided through the annual reports. This is why annual reports must be relevant, comprehensive and reliable, so as to faithfully represent the affairs of the organisation in a given period,” he said.
Mayende also urged accounts to take the lead on ESG master citing a broad range of skills that they possess.
In the president's speech, CPA Othieno Mayende noted that Today’s #FiReAwards22 coincides with World Accountants’ day. The 10th November date commemorates the day in 1494 that Venetian mathematician Luca Pacioli #FiReAwards22 pic.twitter.com/3v1aUPnYyL
— ICPAU (@ICPAU1) November 10, 2022
“We should therefore use this position to guide regarding ESG decision-making, while also providing oversight through the audit function, to ensure that ESG decisions and policies are implemented. Once we fully assume this role, I am confident that there will be more effective ESG action in our economy which is a way of fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals,” Mayende added .
