Mr. Alhassan Fuseini inaugurated the Audit Committee of the Ghana Prisons Service on behalf of Dr. E.O. Osae, Director-General of the Internal Audit Agency on the 17th August, 2023.
The inauguration was chaired by Dr. Francis Omane-Addo, the Director in charge of Technical on behalf of the Director-General. He shared on the purpose of the meeting, thanked the outgoing members for their support and the immense contribution to the work of the Ghana Prisons Service. Dr. Omane-Addo noted that with the support of the Committee, internal control systems of the service have improved, and infractions reported have reduced to the barest minimum. He congratulated in-coming members for accepting to serve on the Committee of the Service.  Â
Members of the Committee are Honourable Gladys G. N. Tetteh (Chairman and IAA Rep), Mr. Joshua Magnus Nicol (IAA Rep) and Madam Lucy Aboagye Nuamah (ICAG Rep).
Mr. Alhassan in his address, said the Audit Committee is a high-level corporate governance committee that contributes to the effectiveness of public accountability and the appropriate use of public resources. He added that, the Audit committee of the Ghana Prisons Service is being inaugurated to fulfill its responsibilities imposed on them under Section 86 (1) of the PFM Act, the Public Financial Management Regulations, 2019 (L.I. 2378), the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) as amended, the Guidelines for Effective Functioning of Audit Committees and other applicable financial laws.
Mr. Alhassan enumerated the three roles of the Committee as Mandatory, Advisory and Supporting. On the Mandatory role, he noted that the committee is to ensure the implementation of recommendations raised in Internal Audit Reports, External Audit Reports, Monitoring Reports and directives from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament if any.
The Committee is also to ensure they prepare an annual report of the activities of the Committee and submit an annual statement of the status implementation endorsed by the Sector Minister to the Principal Account Holder (PAH); Minister for Finance; Office of the President; Auditor-General; and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament; Director-General of the Internal Audit Agency.
On the advisory role, Mr. Alhassan encouraged members of the committee to  advise Management of the Service on Financial Management, Risk Management Practice, Internal Control and Governance processes. The committee is also to ensure compliance with Laws, Regulations and Policies. The committee is also to support the Internal Audit Unit of the Service deliver on their mandate. He tasked the committee to ensure timely submission of reports and ensure these reports are reviewed thoroughly before submission as they go far.
Mr. Alhassan shared on the benefits of the newly launched Emergency Expenditure Management Guidelines and Audit Recommendations Implementation and Follow-up Instructions for Public Institutions. He informed the meeting of a sensitization exercise soon to be rolled out. He thanked the members of the Committee for accepting to serve on the and tasked Management to support the Committee and also give an orientation on the activities of the Ghana Prisons Service.
