Ghanatodayonline.com News, Politics, Health, Education & More
The Internal Audit Agency (IAA) has named the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Jean Mensa, the best head of covered organizations for the 2022–2023 auditing year in the area of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).
Mrs. Mensa was honored for guiding the EC in putting into place a series of measures that aided in fostering accountability and openness in the Commission’s management of the public purse.
At the Internal Audit Agency’s annual conference, which was held last Friday (Sept. 15) at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), Senior Presidential Advisor Yaw Osafo-Maafo gave her the honor.
A citation read in her honour stated in part: “The Internal Audit Agency recognises your timely implementation of audit recommendations and general support to internal audit unit activities. You ensured that the Internal Audit unit was provided with adequate resources, space and logistics to enable it deliver on its mandate in an objective and independent manner devoid of intimidation.”
“Your actions have undoubtedly enhanced the Internal control systems of the Electoral Commission,” the citation added.
The EC Chairperson described it as encouraging that the Commission’s efforts had been acknowledged by the IAA in an interview with media following the award. The Commission had been working in the background to set up procedures that would encourage efficient resource management.
With regard to a few of the initiatives, she noted that in 2020, the EC was able to lower the cost of elections from $13 per head to $7.70, “and saved our country a whopping $90 million compared to what was spent in 2016.”
According to Mrs. Mensa, the Commission made a conscious effort to implement a number of procurement procedures to guarantee the wise use of resources.
“Mainly, we have used competitive bidding process by advertising about 95 per cent materials in the newspapers with the exception of printing which we have to rely on companies that have been printing since the 1990s,” she added.
She continued by saying that in 2020, the Commission formed an internal audit unit for the first time in the nation’s history.
“This internal audit unit is operated by professionals. They apply a lot of scrutiny to our processes to ensure efficient use of resources,” Mrs Mensah stated.
In addition, she stated that the EC had established an audit committee, an outside organization that works to guarantee adherence to the Public Financial Management Act and the Public Procurement Act.
“We are a commission that believes in transparency and accountability, and to the very best of our ability, we try to be prudent in the use of the public purse,” she insisted.
The award from the IAA for the finest MDA, according to Mrs. Mensa, was more than just “a collective joy”; it also served as inspiration to do more to ensure the wise use of tax dollars.
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com
