The Member of Parliament for South Dayi Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor has underscored the need for the Auditor-General to be given prosecutorial powers under the law.
Interacting with the media on the sidelines of the opening of the Public Account Committee’s sitting in Ho, the South Dayi lawmaker intimated that stiffer punishments for persons implicated in the A-G’s report would be enough to save the nation from the huge losses contained in the report every year.
He emphasized that surcharging offenders is not sufficient to discourage such acts and infractions.
“The Auditor-General itself in addition to the power to surcharge, should also have power to prosecute because it’s not sufficient to surcharge because when you surcharge you are asking the person to refund, is that sufficient? If somebody misappropriate public funds to the tune of about 300 million and you are only surcharging then you are encouraging the person to engage in it again” he said.
The Public Account Committee’s sitting is currently underway in Ho, the Volta Regional Capital.
The opening, saw public Institutions such as the Accra Technical University, the Koforidua Technical University, and the Ho Technical University being interrogated on infractions identified in the 2021 Auditor-General’s reports.
