EOCO inaugurates new Audit Committee

The Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) has inaugurated a five-member Audit Committee in accordance with Section 86 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921).

The Public Financial Management Act mandates all entities in the public sector to establish an Audit Committee.

The members of the newly inaugurated Audit Committee, which is chaired by Mr Joshua Magnus Nicol, are Mr. Alhassan Fuseini, Mr Osei Kwaku Adjaye-Gyamfi, Mr Kenneth Adu-Amanfoh, and COP George Alex Mensah, respectively representing Internal Audit Agency (IAA), the Institute of Chartered Accountants- Ghana, and EOCO Board.

Dr Eric Oduro Osae, the Director-General of the Internal Audit Agency, speaking at the inaugural ceremony, congratulated members of the former Committee for their exemplary reporting and high professional standards with which they executed their mandate.

Dr Osae charged the new Committee members to bring to bear their professional knowledge and expertise in their new roles and admonished them to work with the Board, Management, and the Internal Audit Unit of EOCO in the performance of their duties.

He said the IAA was mainstreaming Enterprise Risk Management in all public institutions, and therefore called on the committee members to support EOCO to implement good risk management strategies.

This, he said would enable the EOCO to anticipate risks even before they occur, as being reactionary was not the best way to go.

He emphasized the need for companies to also conduct performance audit, as according to him, most institutions focused more on the financial aspect of auditing, which did not eventually make for a holistic auditing process.

The IAA Director-General reiterated his outfit’s commitment to support the EOCO in the fight against corruption.

Mr Joshua Magnus Nicol, Chairman of the newly inaugurated Committee gave the assurance that members were committed to continuing the work of the old committee, as he pledged their dedication to professionally discharging their mandates.

The terms of reference of the Committee include ensuring that the management of EOCO pursues the implementation of any recommendations contained in internal audit reports, Parliament’s decision on the Auditor-General’s Report, Auditor-General’s Management Letter; and the report of an internal Audit Department, in relation to financial matters raised and any other related directives.

Present at the inauguration were Commissioner of Police (COP) Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah, Executive Director of EOCO, and her deputies; Mr Charles Nana Antwi, and Madam Aba J. Opoku, as well as the Heads of the Internal Audit and Finance Units of EOCO.

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