By Caroline Nassuuna
John Bosco Ntangaare, the former Director Education at the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU) has been awarded the inaugural ICPAU Honorary Membership award.
Among other accomplishments, Ntangaare is credited with developing a robust Continuing Professional Development programme in line with the benchmarks of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), establishing the Practical Experience Training (PET) programme, overseeing the qualification of 6,996 students, and establishing the research function of the Institute which has so far concluded 4 projects.
“I thank the Council for this recognition. The Institute has been my home for 26 years and 3 months and I am happy to continue making a contribution,” said Ntangaare.
Honorary Membership is the highest distinction of honour conferred upon a non-accountant and is exercised only in exceptional cases to recognise an individual for exceptional service and contribution to ICPAU and or accountancy profession in Uganda.
Section 5 of the Accountants CAP 294 prescribes the membership of the Institute as being (a) full members; (b) associate members; (c) retired members; and (d) any other category of members, as may be determined by the Council.
Regulation 8 of the Accountants Regulations 2016 states that “The Council may award honorary membership to a person who makes an outstanding contribution to the field of accountancy.”
According to CPA Josephine Okui Ossiya, the President of ICPAU, Ntangaare can now use the title HCPA before his name, that is, HCPA John Bosco Ntangaare. HCPA refers to Honorary Certified Public Accountant.
HCPA Ntangaare was recognised with the Honorary Membership honour at the 2024 Accountancy Service Awards (ASA) of ICPAU on 6 September 2024. The Awards were held at the Imperial Resort Beach Hotel, and online.
CPA Keto Kayemba, the President of the Pan African Federation of Accountants was presented with the ICPAU Gold Service Award at the 2024 Accountancy Service Awards (ASA).
She was honoured for her service to the accountancy profession in Uganda as a member of ICPAU for over 21 years, strong leadership in public sector audits and being a strong proponent of public value management in service delivery to citizens during her time as Assistant Auditor General of Uganda, promoting good working relations between the Institute and government entities, as well as the creating the ICPAU Women in Accountancy Forum, among other credits.
“I appreciate the accountancy fraternity for not only nurturing me but also for recognising me. I look forward to employing the position I hold and using the services offered by accountants for the development of Africa,” noted Kayemba while delivering her acceptance speech.
The ICPAU Gold Service Award is the highest award bestowed upon individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the accountancy profession in Uganda.
The CPA of the Year award was conferred upon CPA Ruth Doreen Mutebe, the Head of Internal Audit at Umeme and President of the Africa Federation of Institutes of Internal Auditors. CPA Mutebe Nseko has served the accountancy profession in Uganda for over 17 years, she was a member of the Council of ICPAU and Chairperson of the ICPAU Disciplinary Committee. She has continually supported the development of ICPAU membership, and she has promoted all areas of accountancy.
CPA Mutebe Nseko thanked God for her supportive network including her husband, parents, employers and ICPAU.
“Aluta continua, this is just the beginning, and I will continue to impact wherever I can,” she committed.
In 2024, the Institute introduced the Woman Accountant of the Year Award to elevate the recognition of female accountants' contributions.
CPA Mary Theresa Kiggundu, a consultant with KMAILT Enterprises Ltd and the former Director of Finance and Accounts at the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) emerged as the inaugural winner of this award. She was recognised for her integrity and professionalism, offering exceptional solutions and quality advice to management, mentoring many young accountants particularly the women accountants, commitment to lifelong learning, and maintaining a high level of professionalism in her work even after retirement.
CPA Kiggundu thanked her family and the team at NARO for their support.
“This award motivates me to continue coaching and mentoring young people, and I hope that they will be able to get to where I have been,” she said.
For his role as Team Leader for the International Financial Reporting Standard - IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts Implementation Project and his support in the application of the accounting standard, CPA Joseph Osako, the Finance Manager at GA Insurance Company scooped the Young Accountant of the Year award.
The Finance team of PostBank Uganda Limited received the Finance Team of the Year award. The team was recognised for playing a critical role in the transformation of PostBank over the past 4 years, delivering a transformed integrated report for the entity that resulted in several recognitions at the ICPAU Financial Reporting Awards, and their commitment to professionalism through sponsoring team members to pursue the Certified Public Accountants (CPA) course.
Postbank Chief Financial Officer, CPA Peter Ssenyange said, “Our purpose as a team is to show that ordinary Ugandans can run ordinary Ugandan institutions and run them very well.”
The Accounting Firm of the Year award was given to YM partners for demonstrating tremendous uptake of commendable quality management systems, and embedding quality within its operations to drive business growth.
For supporting its staff with education and training to enhance their careers in professional accountancy, offering practical experience training to students, partnering with ICPAU in organising events, and being a consistent participant of the Financial Reporting Awards, the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) received the Institutional Partner Award.
In her acceptance speech, the CEO of UNOC, Ms Proscovia Nabbanja said, “We have committed that we will make Uganda proud because we know we are going to contribute quite immensely to the National Development Plan and the industrialisation agenda so we do not take this award lightly.”
The Regional Members Network of the Year award was given to the Ankole Regional Members Network. The network was recognised for working closely with the Institute, holding activities in the region geared towards promoting the profession and the CPA Uganda brand, creating partnerships with other stakeholders in the region, and mentoring and steering the activation of 2 other regional members networks.
Pastor Gary Skinner, founder of Watoto Child Care Ministries received the Unique Humanitarian Service Award. This award recognises individuals who have impacted the community. In 1984, Pastor Gary led the creation of a ministry in Kampala to provide hope and life to the people. Thirty years later, many lives have been saved and transformed. The Ministry has facilitated the education of many children, who have become professionals, serving the country and other economies.
While delivering her speech, the Chief Guest, Ms Mercy Kainobwisho, the Registrar General of the Uganda Registration Services Bureau emphasised the significance of regard for community and the environment.
“Building stronger communities requires a sense of purpose, a sense of self-discipline, a sense of respect for humanity, a sense of respect for animals, a sense of respect for water resources, and a sense of respect for land resources,” she noted.
Ms Kainobwisho encouraged respect for people’s time, a sense of purpose, development of self and the people around us to contribute to a greater good for the nation and the world, as well as social connectedness and involvement in the lives of others.
CPA Josephine Ossiya thanked the URSB for their support in harmonising name registration for accounting firms. She called on the URSB to expedite projects in the pipeline, such as the cleaning of the register for accountancy consultancies and accounting firms to ensure harmony with the register of accounting firms on the Institute’s database and what URSB has, since offering of accountancy services to the public is licensed by ICPAU, as well as the development of a Unique Document Identification (UDN) for purposes of verifying the authenticity of financial statements and auditors’ reports accessed by members of the public.
Organised by ICPAU, the ASA 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.
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