Minerals Dev’t Board Inaugurates 5-Member Audit Committee

A five-member Audit Committee has been set up by the Minerals Development Fund (MDF) Board to primarily provide oversight responsibilities and internal monitoring of financial matters relating to the Fund.

Addressing members at the inauguration of the Audit Committee, the board chairperson for MDF, Esther Happy Edjeani, maintained that the committee is conscious of the provisions of Section 86 of the Public Financial Management Act which instruct public institutions to establish Audit Committees to provide oversight responsibilities and internal monitoring of financial matters in every covered entity.

It is against this backdrop that the Committee has been inaugurated to satisfy the provision of the law.

The Audit Committee members include Ransford Agyei (Internal Audit Agency); Nathan Kenneth Ekow Yankey, Internal Audit Agency; Mark Ofori-Amanfo Audit practitioner; Patience Ami Korkor Adenu, Consolidated Bank of Ghana; Diana Commey, Institute of Chartered Accountants.

The Minerals Development Fund (MDF) is an earmarked fund from mining income revenue established by Minerals Development Fund Act, 2016.

The main objective of the Act is to provide financial resources for the direct benefit of mining communities, a holder of an interest in land within mining communities, a traditional and local government authority within mining communities and an institution responsible for the development of mining in Ghana.

The Minerals Development Fund Act governed the use of 20percent of mineral income. Other sources of revenue to the Fund include revenues accrued from grants, donations, gifts, voluntary contributions and any other money lawfully payable to the fund, monies approved by Parliament and interest accrued from investing some of the Fund.

The MDF Act makes provisions for the Fund to be managed by Board of Directors comprising of institutional representatives from both political and non-political regimes. The Board is assisted by a Fund Administrator who is the bureaucratic Head and Lead Advisor to the Board among other staff.

Furthermore, the Board Chairperson, said: “As one of the Funds of the government, we are obliged to ensure that decisions for the utilization of the Fund conform to the laws of the land as issued for the management of public funds- the Public Financial Management Act, the Public Procurement Act and the Internal Audit Act).

She also urged the committee to expedite action to review the financial transactions of the Fund from inception to date for publication.

Source: B&FT