Mr. Nathan Yankey, Director of Operations of the Internal Audit Agency inaugurated the Audit Committee of the Hydrological Services Department on behalf of the Director-General on 3rd October, 2022.
Mr. John Kusi, the Acting Director of the Department in his opening address briefed the meeting on the mandate and scope of activities of the Department. The Acting Director informed members of the passage of the Hydrological Authority Bill on 29th July, 2022 and is currently awaiting Presidential accent to convert the institution into Ghana Hydrological Authority which would ensure effectiveness. Mr. Kusi said the coming in of the Audit Committee is in good time and thanked members for agreeing to support and provide guidance.
Members of the Audit Committee are Mrs. Lucy Odoom (Chairman and IAA Rep), Mrs. Jernina Baaba Kwoa (IAA Rep), Mr. Emmanuel Adadey (ICAG Rep). Mr. Sylvester Darko and Mrs. Margaret Hammond are representatives of the Hydrological Services Department.
Mr. Yankey in his address, said the Audit Committee is a high-level corporate Governance Committee that works to ensure that organisations work to meet their mandate in the tenets of the law. He informed members that as part of their mandate, they are to ensure the achievement of the objectives of financial management which include pursuing Management to implement recommendations in Internal and External Audit Reports, directives from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament and Internal monitoring reports of the Department. Mr. Yankey added that the Committee is to report annually on the status of implementation of reports received by the Department and submitted to the required stake holders.
On the advisory roles, Mr. Yankey tasked the Committee to assist Management mitigate operational and financial risks that that may come up. He advised Management to provide orientation for members on the core functions of the Department to bring them up to speed on its activities to ensure the attainment of prudence, accountability and value for money spent. Speaking on the supporting roles of the Committee, the Director of Operations said apart from being a corporate governance Committee, it is also an accountability Committee and will have to work towards setting standards. He advised the Committee to ensure that the Internal Audit Unit’s work is risk-based and that required reports are submitted on timely basis.
Concluding his address, Mr. Yankey encouraged Management to give the Committee the required support to enable it deliver effectively on its mandate and tasked members to work to ensure internal controls are working and prevent abuse of the system.
Mr. Kusi in his closing remarks congratulated members on their appointment. He assured members of his support and indicated the importance he attaches to audit reports. He promised to work with the Committee and provide the needed resources.
