The article identified and analysed generally accepted factors or best practices that ensure or indicate the effectiveness of an Internal Audit Unit in public and private sector organizations. The aim was to use those factors identified from literature to design a model (conceptual framework) that can be used by public sector organisations in Ghana for measuring and ensuring the effectiveness of Internal Audit Units. The method used, which was only qualitative, was to search through empirical, legal and regulatory and professional literature for those factors that were known to ensure the effectiveness of IAUs. Eight important factors that became the parameters of a new model were identified. It was concluded that there are sufficient provisions that create the desired efficiency of Internal Audit Units in Ghana given the legal and professional environment. It was recommended that MMDAs and the Internal Audit Agency should adopt the model developed here to measure the effectiveness of Internal Audit Units in their organisations.
Keywords: Ghana, Internal Audit Unit; effectiveness; MMDAs
