Dr. Eric Oduro Osae, Director-General of the Internal Audit Agency inaugurated the Audit Committee of the Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice on 23rd August, 2022.
Members of the audit Committee are Prof. William A. Atiuilik (ICAG Rep), Dr. Abdallah Ali-Nakyea (IAA Rep), Mrs. Akyaa Arhin Addo-Kufuor (IAA Rep). Madam Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa and Madam Nana Oye Nartey, representatives of the Ministry. Mr. Raynold Quarshie is the Secretary to the Committee.
The inauguration was chaired by the Deputy Attorney-General, Hon. Alfred Tuah-Yeboah. In his address read on behalf of the Attorney-General, Hon. Tuah-Yeboah spoke on the purpose and functions of the Audit Committee and said he had confidence in the Committee discharging its duties without fear or favor. He assured them of Management’s support and promised to be part of their meetings. He thanked all for making it to the inauguration and congratulated members on their appointment.
Addressing the inauguration, Dr. Osae said he was always happy to swear in members to the Audit Committee as they are a good complement to the control systems in the Public Sector. He was impressed by the composition of members on the Ministry’s Committee and informed them of their mandate as provided for under the Public Financial Management Act. Dr. Osae said they had three roles to play as a Committee which are mandatory roles, advisory roles and supporting. He cautioned them not to take over the management of the Ministry but support them to achieve their mandate.
As part of the mandatory role, the Committee is to support Management implement recommendations in Internal and External Audit Reports, directives from the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament and any monitoring report generated internally. Other important mandatory requirements of the Committee are the submission of Annual and half-yearly reports to the Office of the President, Parliament, Auditor-General and the Internal Audit Agency. Dr. Osae advised members to coordinate activities of the Agencies under the Ministry so that issues are resolved before going to Parliament.
On the Advisory roles, Dr. Osae said as experts in their own right, they should give the best of advice to clean up the system before External Auditors are admitted. He requested Management to invite the Audit Committee to Entry and Exit meetings of External Auditors to help resolve issues before they go out. He spoke on mainstreaming Enterprise Risk and tasked the Committee to support the Ministry develop a Risk Register if it has none. On the supporting roles, Dr. Osae encouraged the Committee to support the Internal Auditor to conduct audits on a quarterly basis and submit timely reports. He spoke on outstanding issues of the Ministry.
The Director-General concluded by thanking members for availing themselves to serve Mother Ghana and assured them of the support of the Agency.
