Kufuor inaugurates Internal Audit Agency Board

Accra, Aug.4, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor on Wednesday called on members of the Internal Audit Agency Board to initiate innovative approach to enhance efficiency in the Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDAs) and the Government.

President Kufuor made the call when administering the oaths of office and secrecy to the eight-member Board at the Castle, Osu. The Board established under the Internal Audit Agency Act 2003,passed by Parliament last year, is part of the prudent financial management systems being put in place to promote efficiency, transparency and accountability in both private and public sectors of the economy.

President Kufuor said the cornerstone of the 1992 Constitution enjoined the practice of accountability and transparency that were critical values for good governance.

He said Internal Auditors were integral to institutions they served and that limited their operations to the institutions where they worked but the Board would be the umbrella body for those who worked in the MDAs.

President Kufuor explained that all the MDAs were expected to work to the President but the practice in the past had been that the President never knew what transpired in their operations. He said, "we want to make their operations functional and transparent".

Mr Samuel K.A.B. Crabbe, Former Chief Executive Officer of Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) and Chairman of the Board, pledged to work within the legal framework to ensure maximum achievement of their objectives to develop and implement financial management and organizational structures that would achieve maximum results. He said the Board would wage war on corruption by reviewing, developing and implementing good control practices.

Mr Crabbe said they would also attack the root causes of problems with a coalition of internal forces in partnership with the Government, Private Sector and Civil Society.

He pledged that the Board would pursue policies and programmes that would give the nation value for money, adding, "we will not just spend money but will ensure that the nation gets value from our output for every cedi spent on our activities".

Other members of the Board are; Mr Eugene Ofosuhene, Deputy Controller and Deputy Accountant General; Mr K. Agyekum Dankwa, Chief Director, Ministry of Local Government and rural Development and Professor S.N. Woode, Chairman of the Public Services Commission (PSC). The rest are; Captain Osei Danso, a Consultant; Mrs Felicia Quartey Acquaye of the Bank of Ghana (BOG); Mr W. Okine, a Chartered Accountant and Osabarima Kwesi Atta II, Omanhene of Oguaa Traditional Area.