Sanitation Ministry inaugurates Advisory Board, Audit Committee
The board is expected to advise the minister on policy direction, planning and operational strategies.
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The inauguration of the Audit Committee, on the other hand, is mandatory under the Public Financial Management Act (PFMA), 2016 (Act 921).
With the coming into operation of the PFMA, the Audit Committee has replaced an Audit Reports Implementation Committee (ARIC), which used to play a similar role.
Other functions of the committee include implementing recommendations in internal audit reports, Parliament’s decisions on the Auditor-General’s Report and the Auditor-General’s Management Letter.
The rest are preparation of annual reports showing the status of implementation of any recommendation contained in various audit reports, as well as annual statements showing remedial actions taken or proposals to be taken to avoid or minimise the recurrence of an undesirable feature in the accounts and operations of the ministry.
The ministry was carved out of the Ministry of Works and Housing by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo two years ago with a pledge to make Accra the cleanest city in Africa before the end of his tenure in office.
Section 39 of the Civil Service Law 1993 (PNDCL 327) requires every ministry to establish an advisory board and promote constant interaction between the ministry and users of its services.
Inauguration
The sector minister, Ms Cecilia Abena Dapaah, who inaugurated the two bodies yesterday, called on the advisory board to come up with pragmatic counsel that would facilitate the delivery of a clean Ghana to achieve the President’s vision to make Accra the cleanest city in Africa.
“The rationale for selecting persons from both the public and private sectors to form the advisory board is to benefit from their expertise and experiences in addressing issues confronting the ministry,” she explained.
According to her, the task ahead was huge, for which reason she was counting on their expertise to help instill in the public the culture of best sanitation practices such as refraining from indiscriminate littering and open defecation.
Ms Dapaah said achieving a clean Ghana was everybody’s responsibility and, therefore, urged all to contribute their quota, adding that with right government policies and interventions, the sanitation challenges in the country would be tackled.
She further entreated the audit committee members to work diligently without fear or favour as the ministry was ready to collaborate with them to deliver sound fiscal management.
“I charge you to discharge your mandate with due diligence to ensure sound financial management in the ministry,” Ms Dapaa added.
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