CJA concerned about Parliament's inaction on corruption

Accra, March 9, GNA - The Committee for Joint Action (CJA) on Tuesday expressed concern about the inaction of Parliament towards the fight against corruption though the institution has considerable powers that could be used to check the menace.

The group said it was not enough for Parliament to hold public hearings where officials were made to answer questions on audit reports but no actions were taken against such people to deter others from engaging in similar practices.

Mr Edward Bawa, a member of the CJA, said this at a press conference in Accra on the findings contained in the 2008 Auditor General's report into the public accounts of Ghana.

He urged government to prosecute officials found culpable of misapplying state funds and take steps to seal the loopholes that enabled such reprehensible crimes to be committed against the people of Ghana. "We insist that the laws governing the utilization of public funds must be rigorously adhered to in order to spare the long suffering masses of this country the agony of watching on helplessly as their taxes are stolen by greedy and unscrupulous officials," he said. Mr Bawa said total irregularities in 2008 alone amounted to GHc 166.1 million, representing an increase of 177.4 per cent over that of the previous year.

He said the cash irregularities accounted for 92.8 per cent of the total financial irregularities mainly because imprest holders refused to account for those monies, absence of effective supervisory controls over revenue collection, failure of officers to obtain supporting documents for funds to be disbursed as well as the ineffectiveness of Internal Audits Units within the Ministries.

Mr Bawa said Value Added Tax (VAT) acquired on the Barnett building near Busy Internet in Accra accounted for GHC 874,154 and rehabilitated at GHc 2,387,216 million although the building had only been leased to VAT for 11 years with the possibility that the lease may not be extended. He said three oil marketing companies which reneged on their scheduled payment plans to the tune of GHc 2,768,908 were not asked for guarantees. Though they are not paying the debts, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning is doing nothing.

Mr Bawa said contrary to regulation 14(1) of the Financial Administration Regulation, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Public Sector Development and PSI opened and operated an account at the Accra High Street Branch of Barclays Bank Ghana in October 2005.

He said GHc two billion was transferred into it from the Ministry's main account which earned an interest of GHc 7.8 million and the two billion was withdrawn but as at now the principal and the interest have not been accounted for.

Mr Bawa also catalogued a litany of other findings as to how officials charged with the responsibility of managing the nation's financial resources at various Ministries, Departments and Agencies encouraged financial irregularities.

He said in spite of the numerous exposures that the CJA had made over the years concerning similar acts in previous audit reports no efforts had been made by the relevant authorities to stem the dissipation of the nation's scarce resources. The group called on the media and civil society organizations to intensify efforts at exposing corruption which he said, was the surest way of safeguarding the nation's resources. 09 March 10