On 29th August, 2022, the Director-General of the Internal Audit Agency (IAA), Dr. E.O. Osae inaugurated the Audit Committee of the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet). In attendance was the Chairman of the Governing Board of GMet, Hon. George Amoh.
In his opening remarks, the Ag. Director-General of GMet, Mr. Eric Essuman said the Audit Committee is prescribed by the PFM Act 2016 (Act 921) to ensure internal controls work in public institutions.
Delivering his speech, Dr. Osae thanked the outgoing Committee for a good job done and told new members that the inauguration is a call for service. He charged members to put their expertise at the disposal of the institution. Dr. Osae outlined the mandatory, advisory and supporting roles of the Committee. According to him, the mandatory roles of the Committee include working with the Board and Management of GMet to implement recommendations from required reports and technically ensure that control systems are working. The Committee is also required to submit an annual report which should be signed by the sector minister. The report will be an indication of how far the Committee has supported the sound utilization of public funds.
On the advisory roles, Dr. Osae stated that the Committee is required to provide advice on sound financial and risk management practices. He continued that with the PFM Act requiring the mainstreaming of Enterprise Risk Management into the operations of public institutions, the Committee should work with leadership to deliver on the institution’s risk management requirements. On the supporting roles, Dr. Osae mentioned that the Committee should support the Internal Audit Unit in the preparation and submission of the 2023 Annual Risk-Based Internal Audit Plan. He added that IAA has been naming and shaming for the past two years but is now moving on to collaborate with the Ministry of Finance to apply administrative sanctions.
In concluding, Dr. Osae intimated that the IAA is conducting a payroll audit using Internal Auditors to eliminate ghost names from the payroll. Internal Auditors in public institutions are required to validate electronic salary payment vouchers. The IAA will then carry out a second validation. Consequently, every public institution is required to submit by the 15th of every month, a payroll report to the Agency. He shared that the IAA through the validation exercise has been able to save the Government GHS 665 million in unearned salaries.
Members of the Committee are Dr. K. Antwi-Boasiako (IAA Rep and Chairman of the Committee), Mr. Senanu K. Mensah (IAA Rep), Madam Magdalene Apenteng and Mr. Kwabena Appenteng (GMet Board).
