By Nancy Akullo
Head of Communications, ICPAU
CPA Japheth Katto was honoured with the ICPAU Gold Service Award at the 2023 Accountancy Service Awards (ASA).
CPA Katto earned the award for among other things, being a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU) in good standing for over 23 years, service on several Committees of the Council of ICPAU, service on the Board and Committees of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) for over 9 years, mentoring other members to extend their service to IFAC, steering the boards of some of the region’s most respected companies and nurturing good corporate governance practices through training and active participation on various corporate boards.
CPA Katto was recently appointed to the Board of the Central Bank. He is the founding Chief Executive Officer of the statutory body responsible for regulating and promoting the development of capital markets in Uganda and served for 16 years, during which period he was instrumental in starting the Financial Reporting (FiRe) Awards with the Capital Markets Authority as a partner.
In his acceptance speech, CPA Katto acknowledged the significance of voluntary service and encouraged accountants to offer themselves to serve not only the profession, but the communities as well.
“I encourage you to serve not only the profession, but wherever you are,” said CPA Katto
“You ask somebody about service but they are not on a church group, not on a mosque group, not even on a school group, and they come and ask to be a leader,” he noted.
He encouraged accounting firms to consider mergers in order to build strong practices and emphasised the relevance of integrity in the profession.
“In a country where ethics is a big challenge, we would like to see that the accountants stand out as the leaders of ethics and, therefore, your ethics is going to be key for the success and to the contribution you make,” he said.
CPA Sarah Muzungyo Chelangat, the Commissioner-Domestic Taxes at the Uganda Revenue Authority scooped the CPA of the Year Award for among other achievements, representing a role model of what ICPAU espouses in terms of professional conduct and technical proficiency, serving on the Taxation and Economic Policy Panel of the Professional Standards Committee of the Council of ICPAU, actively attending and participating in the Institute’s events as a member, being rated as a good taxation resource person, delivering various presentations at ICPAU events, and championing the protection of professionalism through advocating for the recruitment of qualified persons for Accounting/Finance roles especially members of ICPAU at the various workplaces.
For the Young Accountant of the Year, CPA Charles Busingye, a Projects Accountant at the Uganda Electricity Generation Company Limited emerged as the winner. CPA Busingye was a prize winner for 3 papers in the CPA Course, Advanced Taxation, Business Policy & Strategy, and Integration of Knowledge. He is a team player and he has been part of the finance team that has overseen a total transformation of the organisation. He pioneered the implementation of a new business model code-named ‘the Delegation of Authority’ in the industry, which has seen his employer improve processes.
In the category of Finance Team of the Year, the finance team of the Joint Clinical Research Centre (JCRC) emerged as the winner, for among other accomplishments establishing strong internal controls, compliance with rules and regulations, retaining most of its funding sources and attracting several new funders hence ensuring long-term business growth and continuity, embracing technology, ring-fencing the finance roles in the organisation for professional accountants, promoting the uptake of the CPA qualification for aspiring accountants within the finance department, and demonstrating a strong commitment to upholding ethical standards.
Ardenfield won the Accounting Firm of the Year Award. The firm has made great improvements in its quality management systems and demonstrated a strong commitment and willingness to continuous improvement by implementing the recommendations from the ICPAU Quality Assurance Review team. They embraced automation and technology and they have grown the service offerings from only accounting and audit services to include financial due diligence and regulatory compliance checks, among others. Ardenfield effectively monitors firm-client relationships and they support the professional development of staff through periodical training and the development of a succinct career development plan for each staff member.
The Unique Humanitarian Service Award was presented to Past District Governor, Rtn. Steven Mwanje, the Managing Director of Bridge Credit Finance, for among other contributions, his efforts towards the establishment of the Uganda Rotary Cancer Programme which has contributed tremendously towards fighting cancer in Uganda.
For their contribution to the growth and success of ICPAU, the Institutional Partner Award was presented to the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA). Among other contributions, URA has complied with the Accountant’s Act, 2013 by ensuring that heads of finance and audit are members of the Institute.
In 2023, to honour members’ regional networks that have promoted the CPA Brand in their respective regions and fostered the unity of the members in the region, ICPAU introduced a new category of award, the Members’ Regional Network of The Year Award. The CPA Uganda Mid-Eastern Regional Network based in Mbale scooped the inaugural Members’ Regional Network of the Year Award.
In his remarks, Mr Don Wanyama, the Managing Director of Vision Group and the chief guest at the 2023 ASA ceremony applauded accountants for upholding the values of professionalism. He encouraged accountants to continue to serve the communities and not let greed overtake need.
“We need to sacrifice and go beyond the normal call and make the world a better place,” Mr Wanyama said.
“Let us not be consumed by materialism and forget this call,” he added.
The Accountancy Service Awards are organised by ICPAU. The Awards were introduced in 2015 as premium annual awards of excellence aimed at recognising persons or entities that have made outstanding contributions to the advancement of the accountancy profession in Uganda and beyond. The 2023 ASA ceremony was held on 22 September 2023 at the Imperial Resort Beach Hotel.
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