President Akufo-Addo has assured that his government will take the Auditor General’s report “seriously”.
The President’s pledge comes days after the Auditor General Daniel Domelevo revealed that he had applied to the Attorney General to grant him prosecutorial powers to haul persons indicted in his report before the court.
Mr. Domelevo last year surcharged four public officials for allegedly causing financial loss to the state. The action was in fulfillment of an order by the Supreme Court that he should immediately begin the process of surcharging any person found to have misappropriated state funds.
The seven-member panel headed by Sophia Akuffo further ordered that where applicable, criminal action should be taken against the accused persons by the Attorney General.
Mr. Domelevo also urged the government to take its report serious by implementing the findings therein.
The overall financial impact of “weaknesses and irregularities” identified in the public sector, according to the 2016 Auditor General’s report , amounted to GH¢2,165,542,375.14″.
The “weaknesses and irregularities” were categorised under seven broad headings and they are; Tax, Cash, Outstanding debts/loans, Payroll, Contract, Rent and Stores/Procurement irregularities.
Cash irregularities top the list with GH¢2,053,622,215.68 representing 95% of the total irregularities.
Delivering his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) Thursday February 8, 2018 President Akufo-Addo noted that acts of corruption affects every citizen and “we should work to tackle them.”
Touching specifically on the Auditor General’s report, he said: “Government has an obligation to treat the Auditor-General’s Report seriously, and to work to retrieve illegally acquired monies from those who would impoverish us all.”
He added: “The Auditor-General’s Report on MDA liabilities as at 31st December, 2016, makes truly alarming reading. I make reference to the fact that a staggering amount of GH¢5.4 billion has been identified as constituting fictitious claims.”
Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5FM
