Demand accountability from leaders - Public urged
A former chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament, Mr Albert Kan Dapaah, has blamed the current level of mismanagement of the economy on the inability of the public to demand accountability from its leaders.
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He warned that if the public failed to hold leaders accountable, “there could be growing militancy in the country,” which, he said, would not augur well for Ghana’s democracy.
Mr Kan Dapaah was speaking at a day’s sensitisation workshop for members of staff of some selected district assemblies in the Ashanti Region, on the findings and recommendations contained in the Auditor General’s reports of 2009 to 2011.
He said if care was not taken to stem the ongoing misapplication and misappropriation of public funds and the unwarranted payment of judgement debts, the disillusioned youth might one day take the law into their own hands.
Mr Kan Dapaah thus challenged civil society and the public at large to be interested in how the government managed national resources and to always demand accountability to avoid a possible social unrest.
The workshop, which was organised by the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), was designed to draw public attention to some of the issues raised by the Auditor- General.
Non-functional ARIC
Mr Dapaah said according to the Audit Service Act, 2000 (Act 584), all bodies and organisations that were audited by the Auditor-General were to set up an Audit Report Implementation Committee (ARIC) that would implement the recommendations of the Auditor-General.
However, he said, as of 2011, most MDAs did not have a functional ARIC, adding that those who claimed to have it in place could not give any evidence, such as minutes from their meetings to authenticate their claim.
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Mr Dapaah also noted that the composition of the membership of the ARIC was such that the same people who supervised the wrongdoings at the assemblies were supposed to implement the Auditor-General’s recommendations.
Besides that, he said, these were very senior officers with very heavy work schedules; “in practice, it is very difficult for such officers to afford the time and commitment that they need for the committee.”
The main findings of the Auditor-General had been financial irregularities at the MDAs, including a breakdown of control over tax administration, poor cash management practices, non-collection of outstanding debts, procurement and contract irregularities.
Financial tribunals
Under the Financial Administration Act, he said the Chief Justice (CJ) was supposed to set up a financial tribunal that would prosecute people against whom adverse findings were made in the Auditor-General’s report.
He said initially, some lawyers raised concerns about the name, due to the perceptions attached to the name tribunal in the country.
As a result, Mr Dapaah said the name was changed to financial court which was supposed to be a high court with a chartered accountant, a chartered manager or valuer as members.
However, he said, the CJ noted that even though the accountant and the valuer or chartered manager might have the required qualifications, “they cannot be elevated to the status of a high court judge and as such cannot sit on cases of a high court judge.”
As a result of this technicality, he said, the CJ and the government had been unable to set up these financial courts to deal with some of the cases.