Commentary on Public Accounts Committee of Parliament

Public Hearings are part of the processes that the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament goes through in examining the reports of the Auditor-General before they are presented and debated on the floor of the House.

Traditionally, it has been the practice for the Auditor-General or the Audit Service, to audit programmes and activities of public offices to efficiently manage and ensure effectiveness, the use of human resources.

 In a Financial Audit therefore, the Auditor-General seeks to ascertain whether financial records of Ministries, Departments and Agencies(MDAs) are free or there are any material mis-statements, either due to fraud or error.  And as the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Albert Kan Dapaah puts it, “The focus of Financial Audit, is on the Cedis and Pesewas.

However, in line with current trends and development, other types of Audit such as Performance Audit and Forensic Audit have emerged.  In a Performance Audit, the Auditor-General identifies a particular activity or Programme to assess whether it was undertaken by the institution in the most economic, efficient and effective manner to ensure value for money.

The Auditor-General's Reports on the five thematic areas which are the Public Servants Housing and Loans Scheme, Accountability Arrangements in Solid Waste Management, Management of Human Resources for an Effective Primary Health Care Delivery by the Ghana Health Service Management of the Ghana police Residential Accommodation, have brought to the fore, the poor management of some State Institutions.

For example, how many Ghanaian Workers knew of the existence of a Housing Loan Scheme for Public Sector Workers? But for a period of 34 years since the Scheme was set up and at the time the Performance Audit was conducted between 2001 -2005, the Scheme had been able to assist three thousand, 939 Public Servants out of 350 thousand workers.

Results of a questionnaire sent to some Public Servants in the Regions showed that 73 percent had not heard of the Scheme.  And there were no beneficiaries in the Northern, Brong Ahafo, Ashanti and Greater Accra Regions and only two people from the Upper East benefited.  

The Performance Audit on Police Residential Accommodation painted a sad picture.  Some personnel live in unhygienic and poorly ventilated rooms.  

The Police Service according to the report, has two thousand 754 occupied premises out of which two thousand 442 are rented and only 312 owned by the Service.  

It is no wonder that out of the total personnel strength of 22 thousand, as at May last year, only 42 percent are properly accommodated.  

It is for this reason that a three storey building project started in 1993 to house Police personnel in Yendi but was abandoned after of more than 13,000 Ghana Cedis or 21-point-three percent of the contract sum, had been paid to two contractors, resulting in a wasteful expenditure.  

This, therefore calls for a thoroughly investigation.  Having said that we must give a  thumbs-up to the Public Accounts Committee and the Agency which made all these happen.

Audit Service Personnel should also be adequately resourced and motivated by making the Service more efficient in the effective blockade of areas of revenue leakage or exposure of irregularities.

In this regard the law must be enforced to take recovery action and those found culpable, punished.  This will broaden the frontiers of democracy.        

By Stephen Kwayie, A Journalist