Power of public officials invites corruption

Accra, Dec. 18, GNA - Public officials must be careful with the power they wield since it served as entry point for corruption, Mr Vitus Azeem of the Centre for Budget Advocacy said on Monday

He said because District Chiefs Executives (DCE) 'wield a lot of power at the local authority level it made them easy targets for corruption since they fear no potential sanctions and were sometimes unaccountable to the assemblies'.

Speaking at a day's workshop on guidelines for budget tracking in Ghana's decentralisation process, Mr Azeem said demands for funds and logistics for the party were made on the DCEs, which tempted them to look for illegal sources to provide.

He told the workshop the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) organised with the aim of contributing to the decentralisation process that since District Coordinating Directors (DCD) were appointed and controlled by the Head of the Civil Service and sometimes endorsed by the Regional Minister and the DCE, it reduced the control by the local assembly and fear of sanctions.

On revenue collectors Mr Azeem noted that because they interacted on daily basis with rate payers and traders, they could by acts of collusion take monies without issuing receipts.

He said sub-committees of the District Assemblies were involved in budget and financial monitoring and in the award of contracts, which gave them a lot of power in contract award and approval for payments.

He said in some cases individual assembly members acted as contractors and suppliers or as front people for contractors without declaring their interests thereby creating an avenue for corruption. Mr Azeem said the mode of appointment of the DCE, Municipal and Metropolitan Chief Executives made it very difficult for them to refuse requests or even instructions from Ministers of State and Regional Ministers.

'They easily obeyed them for fear of losing their positions,=94 he said, adding that such people interfered in the award of contracts to family members, friends and Party members.

'Contractors and suppliers tend to pay monies to local authority officials or use party affiliations to their advantage in the award of contracts, tempting local authority officials to yield to such enticements,' Mr Azeem said.

Mr David Alimo of the Government Accountability and Improves Trust (GAIT) underscored the role of civil society groups in demystifying the budget about how public funds were raised and spent.

He said such groups serving as leaders could help local governments to improve access to budget information and, therefore, they should be consulted in the implementation process.

'They create the platform for sharing information and can also help their own citizens to acquire confidence in their rights to access budget information,' he said.