Punish officials who embezzled cash – PAC to AG

The Public Accounts Committee wants the Attorney General to go beyond the rhetoric and prosecute government officials who are found to have embezzled funds.

This was after the committee uncovered massive rot and financial irregularities in over 50 district assemblies.

The assemblies are reported to have embezzled close to five hundred thousand Cedis.

Speaking about the findings of the Committee in Parliament, Member of Parliament for Dome-Kwabenya and Member of the Committee, Adjoa Safo said government officials in those Assemblies must be prosecuted immediately.

“The money that the country lost as a result of these procurement irregularities was to the tune of Ghc497, 372.78 which is around in the old Ghana Cedis five billion. These were as a result of the fact that most of their procurement processes went sole sourcing.”

She insisted that “where people breached these laws they ought to be sanctioned.”

Adwoa Safo
“As the Public Accounts Committee we are not given such powers to take up these matters. So these recommendations got to the Attorney General's office and we expect that certain actions and prosecutions should be done to serve as deterrent to other civil servants in that area.”

Auditor Generals report
The 2014 Auditor Generals report uncovered some financial irregularities within the various MMDAs in the country.

Some of the irregularities captured in the report included  misappropriation of funds, embezzlement and payment without bank or payment vouchers.

According to a 152 page report from the Auditor General submitted to Parliament, 43 assemblies have failed to account for over 1 billion Ghana Cedis.

This follows the failure of the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, to pay into their bank accounts revenue collected contrary to part eight Section 31 of the Financial Memorandum which requires same of them.

The assemblies also failed to retire imprests granted for official assignments or provide evidence to support the receipts and utilization of goods and services.

The report also cited several cases of embezzlement of funds amounting to over 500, 000 Ghana Cedis by diverting cash inflows into personal accounts and insertions on cheques after they have been endorsed.

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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin