Internal Control Practices and Financial Management of Local Governments: A Quantitative Framework Approach
Abstract:A properly developed internal control system is expected to expose how comprehensive the
government handles its finances and how well they make use of its resources. This study
examined how effective internal control is in the local government in relation to how well
finances are managed. Internal control faces some challenges such as poor accountability where
the day to day transactions are not accounted for and also ineffective measures put in place to
apprehend offenders who tamper with the finances amongst others are some of the problems
associated with internal control practice. The methodology of the study is based on survey
research approach. The statistical data used for the study were obtained by distribution of TwoHundred (200) questionnaire among employees, in the five (5) local governments considered in
this study. These respondents were selected using purposive sampling technique and the data obtained from the questionnaire were analyzed using regression analysis. The result of the
analysis shows that internal control has significant relationship with budget control with p-value
= (0.000<0.05). Based on this result, the study recommends that local government management should develop more effective strategies that will ensure that internal control is effective and efficient so that budgets can be managed properly.