A five-member Audit Committee of Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has been inaugurated by Dr. Eric Oduro Osae, the Director-General of the Internal Audit Agency (IAA).

He asked the committee members to be guided by the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921) to creditably perform their mandatory, supportive, and advisory roles, especially, in risk management.

He said the committee should help the organisation to develop a robust risk management policy to anticipate risks, ensure constant awareness of the organisation’s risk exposures and put in place mitigating measures.

He said, under the mandatory role of the committee, it is tasked to support the organisation so that its audit reports in future will give a better story of the state of the organisation.

“Under the law, the internal auditor is supposed to work with the audit committee to put things in order before the external auditors come. If they come and raise a number of issues, it means there is something fundamentally wrong with the internal control systems”, he noted.

He advised the management of COCOBOD to make adequate resources available to the Audit Committee, so they can perform their duties timely and efficiently.

Mr. Peter Mac Manu, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of COCOBOD, who was present at the inauguration, assured the committee that the Board will support the management of COCOBOD, which stands in readiness to work in harmony with them.

He acknowledged that such cooperation is essential for the proper administration of the assets of COCOBOD; ensuring that the organisation remains financially viable and continues to be a major contributor to the national economy.

“Internal audit is the ear, eyes, and the nose of management. So, management needs the assistance of the internal audit to be able to perform creditably,” he stated.

Hon Joseph Boahen Aidoo, the Chief Executive of COCOBOD, thanked the members of the immediate past Audit Committee for the work done over the past four (4) years and welcomed the members of the new committee.

He said COCOBOD will benefit from their diverse backgrounds and experiences, which will make the institution better. He also assured the committee of management’s cooperation.

“…to prudently manage the financial and operational transactions [of COCOBOD], we need an apt audit machinery. So, looking at the calibre of persons who make up this committee, we expect deep scrutiny of our operations to get things right and our books in order,” he stressed.

COCOBOD, he said, will be forthcoming in its response to requests by the committee, and positively respond to their recommendations to ensure compliance and adherence to best practices and procedures.

The Audit Committee is chaired by Mr Christian Tetteh Sottie, a former Controller and Accountant-General of Ghana. The rest of the members are Dr. Grace Bediako, a former head of the Ghana Statistical Service; Dr. Felix Kwame Aveh, a Development Finance Specialist and a Senior Lecturer at GIMPA; Hon. Kwadjo Asante, MP for the Suhum and Hon. Herbert Krapa, a Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Trade and Industry.