ABOUT JONAS DAKURAH

Jonas Dakurah is presently a Deputy Chief Accountant in the Ghana Health Service and since 2009 the Head of Finance of the Navrongo Health Research Centre. At the Centre he oversees all financial management issues including preparation of financial reports for management and external financiers, supervises the finance staff of the Centre, coordinates all financial audits conducted at the Centre and supports in developing budget proposals for research projects. He is also currently the Chairperson of the Health Services Accountants in the Upper East Region.

Prior to joining the Health Research Centre in Navrongo Jonas was the head of the accounts section of the Brong Ahafo Regional Hospital in Sunyani from 2002 to 2009 where he was responsible for all financial issues of the Regional Hospital. His other responsibilities in the regional hospital included; preparation of revenue and expenditure budgets, establishing internal control system to ensure all revenue owed the hospital are collected and paid into the respective hospital accounts and preparation of monthly and annual financial reports to the Regional Health Directorate.

From 1998-2002, Mr Dakurah was Head of the financial monitoring unit of the Ashanti Region where he was responsible for preparing, reviewing and validating the Regional Budget Management Centres (BMC) quarterly financial reports and consolidation for the Ghana Health Service headquarters in Accra. He was also in-charge of training of financial and non-financial managers on Accounting, Finance and Taxation (AFT) rule and new rules in accounting practice in the Ghana Health Service. From 1993-1998, Jonas was the Head of Finance in the Ashanti Regional Medical Stores, responsible for preparing cash and carry medicine accounts for the Regional Health Directorates. During the same period he led in the Monitoring and Evaluation of all Accounts in connection with medicines in the Ashanti Region.

Jonas has undertaken several training in finance during his long career including; certificates program in financial management at the University of Strathclyde Graduate Business School Glasgow, Scotland, the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership EDCTP sponsored training in Dakar Senegal and professional training at the institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana (ICAG).