Tackle assignment with determination - veep tells audit agency board

The Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, last Wednesday swore in a nine-member board of the Internal Audit Agency at the Jubilee House in Accra.

The board, which has Mr Joseph B. Winful as Chairman, also includes Mr Ransford Agyei, Mr Samuel Danquah Arkhurst and Mr Frank A. Raji as members.

The other members are Madam Janet Fofie, Professor Kwame Adom-Frimpong, Madam Agartha Gaisie- Nketiah, Mr Christian Sottie and Mr Fiifi Kwakye.

Dr Bawumia led the members to take the official oath and the oath of secrecy.

Advice

In a brief address, the Vice-President urged the members of the board to perform their task vigorously.

He commended them for agreeing to serve, saying, “we are a country that is driving towards the Ghana without aid, which means we must use our resources very judiciously’”

Therefore, he said, “we have to rely on your office and the board a lot in the whole audit processes that take place in this country and so you are going to perform a very important duty.”

Dr Bawumia told the board members that they were selected based on their capabilities and expertise “and so we are looking forward to a very vigorous undertaken of your responsibility.”
He reminded them that the country was expecting a lot from them.

Board Chairman

On behalf of the board, Mr Winful expressed appreciation to the government for the honour done them by being selected to assist the government and the people of the country.

He recalled the inaugural address of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in which he urged Ghanaians to be active participants in the development process and not spectators.

He said : “The difficulties with the audit processes are not the systems nor the procedures but the people we have as a country.”

Mr Winful expressed the confidence that the government would grant the board the freedom and authority to carry out the task that had been entrusted to it.

Background

Internal auditing is an essential part of business operation and is recognised in both the public and private sectors as a distinctive profession.

In Ghana, after it had been practised for a long time, internal auditing gained roots with the passage of the Internal Audit Agency Act, 2003 (Act 658).

The legislation provided a timely accentuation for all public sector organisations to embrace internal auditing as part of their day-to-day operations