Factors Influencing the Effectiveness of Audit Committee in Tanzania

This study evaluated factors influencing the effectiveness of audit committees in the public sector of Tanzania. In order to achieve this, the researcher used the case study design whereby the case of the government ministries was used to represent the overall public sector. In order to evaluate the factors influencing the effectiveness of audit committees in the public sector; the researcher used the frequency of audit committee meetings, the composition and structure of these audit committees as the variables to evaluate effectiveness. The findings for this study revealed that audit committees in the public sector conducted an average of five (5) meetings in the last financial year hence making them effective. However it was also found out that audit committees are less effective in overseeing financial matters due to the fact that they have only one (1) independent member and only one (1) member who is knowledgeable in the matters related to accounting, auditing and finance