President John Dramani Mahama is set to meet the Auditor-General, Chief Justice, and Attorney-General on Thursday to decide on strict measures against public officials responsible for financial losses reported in the Auditor-General’s report.
The President expressed worry over the growing cases of financial irregularities and reckless use of public funds by state institutions. He said this during the 12th Annual Conference of Governing Boards, Chief Directors, and Chief Executives in Ho.
President Mahama described the situation as unacceptable and promised that those found guilty of misusing public funds will face swift punishment.
“Recently I’ve been watching the Public Accounts Committee and it’s so pathetic. Every year, we hear all kinds of reckless acts involving public funds and resources,” he lamented.
He noted that the government is seeking a fast-track process to punish offenders to serve as a deterrent to others.
“We must have a fast-track process so that people who cause financial loss to the state will quickly face justice. Until there’s a deterrent, we’ll continue to see the same problems every year,” the President said.
President Mahama revealed that the government has not fully implemented a constitutional provision requiring Parliament to set up a committee to follow up on the Auditor-General’s findings.
He stressed that such a committee would help ensure that recommendations are enforced.
He further criticized the poor performance of Audit Report Implementation Committees (ARICs) in government institutions, saying they fail to act on recommendations from the Public Accounts Committee.
The President added that Thursday’s meeting would explore ways to make officials accountable for their actions and prevent the continuous misuse of public funds.
“After Thursday, I’m sure we’ll come up with a way to ensure that persons who misuse state resources are held to account so that others do not follow suit,” he noted.
By: Jacob Aggrey
