Dr. Eric Oduro Osae, Director-General of the Internal Audit Agency on 13th September, 2022 inaugurated the Audit committee of the National Insurance Commission (NIC).
Members of the Audit Committee are Dr. Hayford Baah-Adade (ICAG Rep and Chairman of the Committee), Mr. Usuman Abdul Razak (IAA Rep), Mrs. Rita Sakodie Baffoe (IAA Rep). Mr. Franklin Owusu Asafo-Adjei and Prof. Bill Buenar Puplumpu are representatives of the Commission’s Board. Mrs. Naa Shormeh is Secretary to the Committee.
In his opening address, Dr. Justice Yaw Ofori, the Commissioner of Insurance thanked the outgoing Committee for its hard work in making the Commission worthwhile and congratulated the incoming members and expressed the hope that the expertise they were bringing on board would propel the Commission to even higher heights.
The Director-General in his address congratulated the new members and said they were there to support an important institution responsible for regulating insurance business in the country to deliver on its mandate. He stated that judging by the Auditor General’s Report, he could deduce the Audit Committee and Management did a good job and urged incoming members to improve upon the inherited baseline.
He outlined the three (3) authorised roles of the Committee as prescribed by the Public Financial Management (PFM) Act as mandatory, advisory and supporting. On the mandatory roles, members were informed of their requirement to support Management implement recommendations in External and Internal Audit Reports, directives from the Public Accounts (PAC) of Parliament and monitoring reports from the operations of the Commission which have financial implications. The Committee is to also ensure that copies of an annual Audit Committee report are submitted to required institutions. On the advisory roles, Dr. Osae tasked members to support the Commission with their expertise and give off their best. He advised members to apart from financial audit, take a critical look at performance audit. He encouraged members to support Management in the reshaping of the Commission’s risk management policy and mainstream risk management in all its operations as the institution is exposed to all kinds of risks.
Speaking on the third role of the Committee, Dr. Osae tasked the Committee to support the Internal Audit Directorate to conduct quarterly and annual audits and submit timely reports. He reminded the meeting of the ongoing naming and shaming of defaulting institutions and encouraged the Committee to support the Directorate deliver on its mandate.
Concluding his address, Dr. Osae thanked members for accepting to serve on the Committee and charged them to give off their best. He promised the Agency’s support when required and encouraged members to make their services available during visits of External Auditors. The Director-General entreated the Committee to be present at entrance and exit meetings of External Auditors to ensure that audit issues were resolved early enough before their escalation.
The Commissioner in his closing remarks assured the Committee of Management’s support and the availability of any information required for the effective delivery of the Committee’s mandate.
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