Some of the members of the audit committee being sworn into office

GES inaugurates audit committee

Severious Kale-Dery Education Oct - 23 - 2018 , 09:40

A Five-member Audit Committee of the Ghana Education Service (GES) has been inaugurated in Accra.

In line with the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921), the committee has the responsibility of ensuring public accountability, transparency and efficient operational and financial performances in the service.

In a speech read on his behalf, the Acting Director-General of the Internal Audit Agency, Mr Ransford Agyei, said the committee also had the mandate to protect public assets and purse against misuse.

Membership of the committee

The committee is chaired by Mr George Ekow Mensshan, a representative of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (Ghana), and has Mr John K. Nyoagbe and Mr Justice King Essel, both from the GES Council, Mr Martin Adjei, and Mr Gordon Kuukang Nuurbaare, both from the Internal Audit Agency (IAA) as members.

“The committee is being inaugurated today so that the GES can fulfil one of its responsibilities under the PFM Act,” which he said prescribed three supervisory roles for the committee: mandatory, advisory and supportive.

Mandatory role

On the committee’s mandatory role, Mr Agyei said it was to pursue the implementation of recommendations as contained in internal audit reports, external audit reports, GES monitoring unit, as well as parliamentary decisions on external audit reports.

He said the committee was also required to prepare annual reports of its activities and submit to the Office of the President, Ministry of Education, the Auditor-General, the Director-General of the IAA, the Minister of Finance and Public Accounts Committee of Parliament (PAC).

Advisory role

Mr Agyei explained that its advisory duties included providing advice on risk management practices, compliance and adherence to laws, regulations, rules and policies and procedures, as well as issues of control and governance.

Internal audit unit

Mr Agyei said the committee was to facilitate, support, persuade and advise management in ensuring that transactions, actions and activities of the GES were carried out in accordance with the relevant laws.

With regard to the role of giving support to the internal audit unit, he added, it was the responsibility of the committee to, among other things, ensure that the internal audit unit got adequate resources to enable it to deliver on its mandate.

Support

The Director-General of the GES, Prof. Kwasi Opoku Amankwa, thanked the members for making themselves available to serve on the committee and pledged that the GES would support the committee to perform its functions effectively.