Assessment of the Factors Affecting the Effectiveness of Internal Audit Functions in Rwandan Public Institutions : A Case Study of RSSB (Rwanda Social Security Board)

The main purpose of this study is to assess the factors affecting the effectiveness of internal audit functions in Rwandan public organizations; a case study of RSSB. The Specific objectives which guided the study were: To determine the level of internal audit effectiveness in RSSB, to assess the determinants of internal audit effectiveness in RSSB, and to examine the challenges encountered by the internal audit function in RSSB. The study population was comprised of 305 employees of RSSB from which by using a purposive sampling technique and the formula of Alain Bouchard a sample of 76 respondents have been selected. Pearson moment Correlation coefficient was used to analyze the relationship between the variables of the study. The study found that financial audit and performance audit is 100% the determinant of the effectiveness of internal audit function in RSSB followed by compliance audit as indicated by 92.6% of respondents while a risk assessment is also one of the determinants of the effectiveness of internal audit practice in RSSB as confirmed by 85.2% of respondents. The study also found that the increase of assets and profitability is considered to be the main measure of the effectiveness of RSSB as indicated by100% followed by 85.2% which indicated solvency as a measure of effectiveness. The results furthermore indicate that customer satisfaction is another measure of RSSB performance as indicated by 77.8%; as also internal audit helps in the protection of organizational assets as indicated by 100% this was followed by profit maximization and it read to proper decision making as indicated by 92.6% while increasing performance management and improve the employee's effectiveness have 88.9 and 85.2 respectively. Moreover, the study by using the Pearson moment Correlation coefficient found that there is a positive relationship between internal audit function and effectiveness of RSSB as r=0.85. The study recommends that RSSB should train its employees about auditing and its practices to the management and that the management should pay utmost attention to the role of internal auditing in better understanding of financial dimensions of development as one of the important tools of improving performances