Don’t be content with just reports; disallow & surcharge – A-G told
“Going forward, it is one thing that we must all come to accept that people cannot get away with such blatant infractions and the Auditor-General should not only be content with just making recommendations that head of entities should take steps to recover,”
Programmes Manager of Ghana Integrity Initiative Mary Awelana Addah has advised the Auditor-General not to be content with recommendations in the annual reports produced but to disallow and surcharge as empowered by law.
Again, she said where there are cases of criminality involving public officials, the Auditor General must defer to the Office of Special Prosecutor (OSP) to take the matters up.
Madam Awelana Addah shared this opinion on TV3‘s Ghana Tonight hosted by Alfred Ocansey on Thursday, September 1.
She said the blatant breaches recorded each and every year is becoming alarming.
“Going forward, it is one thing that we must all come to accept that people cannot get away with such blatant infractions and the Auditor-General should not only be content with just making recommendations that head of entities should take steps to recover,” she said.
“The Auditor-General has the power to disallow and surcharge,” Madam Awelana Addah stressed.
“So, in all the instances he is recommending, if indeed it is confirmed that an official is engaging in such criminality, then the criminal behaviour must be taken up by the OSP.
“But the Auditor-General has a duty of care to this nation to ensure that he is disallowing some of these expenditure and then also surcharging it to the person involved.”
The 2021 Auditor-General’s report saw about GH¢17.4 billion lost by the state to various financial irregularities in public sector institutions.
The general recommendation has been steps to be taken by heads of the institutions to recover the lost funds.
Source: 3news.com|Ghana
