On 12th September, 2022, Dr. Eric Oduro Osae, Director-General of the Internal Audit Agency (IAA) inaugurated the Audit Committee of the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB). Mr. Kingsley Ofosu-Ntiamoah, Executive Director of GMMB who chaired the event said the inauguration was long overdue and was therefore glad it has seen the light of day. He mentioned the challenges the Board had faced in terms of financing which led to the closure of the main gallery in 2015. He revealed that the gallery was only opened two months ago. He expressed the hope that with the new Committee, the institution would be able to do things right.
Addressing the meeting, Dr. Osae stated that the Audit Committee is a statutory one to support leadership to govern and achieve its mandate. He outlined the roles of the Committee prescribed under the PFM Act as mandatory, advisory and supporting. The mandatory roles include working with Management to implement recommendations contained in Internal and External Audit Reports. He added that the presence of the Audit Committee and the Internal Auditor should forbade the discovery of serious audit infractions by External Auditors. The occurrence of this situation would be a pointer that the Committee is not working. He stated that audit issues reported by the Auditor-General have become the talk of the town and as such, the Agency has issued a directive for emergency Audit Committee meetings to resolve issues raised. The Committee is also required to submit an annual report on its activities, recipients of which includes the Office of the President.
The advisory roles include advising leadership of the institution on sound financial and risk management practices. He submitted that currently, public institutions are moving away from pre-auditing to risk-based auditing to ensure the proactiveness of Internal Auditors. He requested the Committee to sit in Entrance and Exit meetings of External Auditors to ensure the resolution of audit observations before the issuance of the External Auditors’ Management Letter. On the supporting roles of the Committee, the Director-General said members should assist the Internal Auditor in the preparation and submission of required reports and plans. He pointed out that the 3rd Quarter Internal Audit Report is due on 31st October, 2022 whilst the 2023 Risk-Based Internal Audit Plan is due on 31st January, 2023. Dr. Osae stressed that the Agency is presently not just naming and shaming but equally applying sanctions. He tasked the Committee to support Management to use public funds thoughtfully.  He commended leadership for the innovations brought to the institution.
In his closing remarks, Mr. Ofosu-Ntiamoah requested a healthy working relationship between the Committee and Management. He said though audit infractions of the institution as reported in the 2021 Auditor-General’s Report were not so damning, he was hopeful the existence of the Committee would ensure that GMMB does not appear at all in the 2022 Auditor-General’s Report. He assured members of Management’s utmost support.
Members of the Committee are Mr. Anthony Adomako Nimo (IAA Rep and Chairman), Ms. Joana Ameyibor (IAA Rep), Mr. Kennedy Oppong Fosu (ICAG Rep), Messiers Hudu Issah and Umar Abdul-Hamid (Board members of GMMB). Mr. Kenneth Fomjegeba is the Secretary of the Committee.
