The Director-General of the Internal Audit Agency, Dr. Eric Oduro Osae inaugurated the Audit Committee of the Narcotics Control Commission on 28th June, 2022.
Members of the Committee are Mrs. Grace Bediako (IAA Rep and Chairman), Mr. Joshua Magnus Nicol (IAA Rep), Mr. Peter Kingford Osei-Susu (ICAG Rep), Col. Zibrim Bawah Ayorrogo and Mrs. Lucy Abebrese (NACOC Reps). Ms. Naa Okailey Adamafio is the Secretary of the Committee.
The Ag. Director-General, Mr. Kenneth Adu-Amanfoh said the purpose of the meeting was to inaugurate the Audit Committee of the Commission as required by law. He said the NACOC was a very important institution in the country. The Ag. Director-General informed the meeting that the Commission is the only Institution mandated by law to regulate narcotics and illicit drugs within the country. Mr. Adu-Amanfoh added that the operations of the Commission are delicate and critical and as such, it was important to have experienced people on the Committee. He shared the mandate of the Commission and said it now has a greater responsibility in the protection of the Country.
Dr. Osae in his address congratulated members of the Audit Committee and added that their presence at the Commission is to support Management deliver on its mandate. He said their roles are mandatory, advisory and supporting are provided under the Public Financial Management Act. The Mandatory roles, Dr. Osae said are to support Management to implement recommendations from Internal and External Audit reports and recommendations from any monitoring reports on the Commission’s operations. The Director-General informed the Committee about the submission of an Annual Report to the Office of the President, Parliament, Auditor-General and the Internal Audit Agency as part of their mandatory role. He said these reports are for the presidency to connect budget to output.
Under the advisory roles, Dr. Osae said the work of the Commission involves a lot of risk and implored the Committee to assist leadership to develop a risk management policy and a risk register. He advised that the Committee should ensure the update of register if the Commission already has one. He said the Commission is volatile and entreated the Committee to bring its expertise to bear to design a system to bring it a step ahead of its risk exposure. On the supporting roles, the Committee is required to support the Internal Audit Unit provide a constant advisory and assurance services to Management. He said Management would be concentrating on its core mandate and it was for the Committee to also look at the financial side of the mandate. He advised however that there should not be over-emphasis on financial audit to the detriment of performance audit.
Dr. Osae in conclusion said he was happy about the Committee’s composition and thanked them for agreeing to serve Mother Ghana. He pledged the Agency’s support to the activities of the Committee.
