Accountants have been advised to be dynamic if they are to conquer the current dynamic environment in which they operate.
The call was made by Makererere University Business School (MUBs) Principal, Prof. Waswa Balunywa while delivering a keynote speech during the 26th Annual ICPAU Seminar.
The three days seminar running from 8th to 10th December 2021 is organized by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU) under the theme: Leadership for Transformation in a Dynamic Environment.
“With the fast-changing world, the emergency of technology as leaders is a step into the future; let us be innovative, it is only dynamic leaders that will manage to conquer this dynamic environment,” Prof. Balunywa told the gathering which was both physical and virtual.
The professor said that leadership is about creating an organizational environment that is strategic and visionary where it challenges, stimulates, rewards and engages its work force to create opportunities, drive operational efficiencies and build a high-performance culture.
“Leaders need to identify problems and find ways of solving them. For example, poverty eradication and climate change mitigations call for good leadership,” Balunywa said.
Balunywa encouraged the accountants to always find something that society will benefit from them as a leader so as to leave a legacy on earth.
He admonished them to always seek to improve their skills in leadership through reading trainings, seminars and conferences.
During the same event, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Pan African Federation of Accountants, Alta Prinsloo called upon accountants to always be trustworthy.
“Being a trusted professional requires living the fundamental ethical principles. Professional accountants should understand how new technologies that affect their businesses are used,” Prinsloo highlighted.
She added that professional accountants need to be curious and this will allow them to seek that which they do not know.
ICPAU President CPA Constant Mayende used the occasion to call upon government to support the recovery of SMEs which have been hard-hit by the COVID-19 Pandemic.
“We have suggested to the government to improve the ease of doing business by removing obstacles like excessive regulation and unfavourable taxes such as the 12% levy on internet data,” Mayende said.
He added, “ICPAU recommended adhering to the established laws and regulations such as the Public Finance Management Act which guides on public revenue and expenditure management, in addition to minimizing public administration costs by halting the creation of new administrative units.”
For the education sector, we recommend that the government identifies and fixes weaknesses in infrastructure, such as power distribution, and internet connectivity.