Gov't to open Office of Accountability

Government would soon establish an office of Accountability as one of the several measures to minimise corruption in the country, Mr. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Minister for Information and Presidential Affairs said on Wednesday.

He said government sees its slogan, "zero tolerance for corruption" as an underpinning factor in the determination to improve the lot of the ordinary Ghanaian by ensuring value for money for all public activities in the broad context of good governance."

Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey, who was answering parliamentary questions, said government is enforcing the declaration of assets and compliance with the code of conduct for all public officers, as demanded by the constitution.

"As declared by the President, government will no longer maintain permanent tender boards to supervise the award of contracts. It would establish independent adhoc committees to evaluate reports to determine their objectivity."

He said government continues to combat corruption through institutional strengthening, rationalisation of mandates of anti-corruption agencies, rules and procedures.

Mr. G.Y. Amoah, NPP-Bosome-Freho, had asked the Minister what programme the Ministry of Information and Presidential Affairs was pursuing to inculcate in Ghanaians, the culture of "Zero tolerance"

Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey said government would hasten the pace of computerising the courts to speed up proceedings and processes in the delivery of justice, adding that justice delayed is justice denied.

He said a number of Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) are undertaking specific actions in line with the realisation of "zero tolerance for corruption"

"The Ministry of Finance has established Expenditure Control Units (ECUs) in all MDAs from 15 June 2001 to ensure that government obtains optimum value in the application of resources for recurrent and development expenditure."

He said the ECU would remove ghost names from the pay roll and pension list and also eliminate waste in other areas. "The Audit Service has now established Payroll Audit Unit to carry out payroll audits on continuous basis to weed out "ghosts" permanently from government payrolls.

Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey said Departmental heads have been made personally accountable for all names, which they endorse on their departmental payrolls each month. He said the Civil Service was being sensitised to be client-oriented by reviewing rules of control and procedures, thereby cutting undue bureaucracy. The Minister said measures have been put in place to combat corruption in service delivery of Civil Service.

Government continues to offer more resources to the Police Force to combat crimes. It would partner the constitutional bodies to promote good governance. He said the Ministry of Information and Presidential Affairs is co-ordinating all these activities.

"The Ministry and its agencies, including Ghana News Agency and Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, also plan to undertake massive national programmes to sensitise Ghanaians on all aspects of 'Zero tolerance' in a sustained manner, he said.