Auditor-General rejects 50% government liability, asks to go after looters

• Posted on February 6, 2018
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

Auditor-General, Daniel Yaw Domelevo has revealed that close to 50 percent of a supposed GH?11 billion government outstanding liability has been rejected following an audit of the claims.

The rejected claims by state ministries, departments and agencies not only lacked validation but were mostly unlawful, he told journalists on Monday and confirmed the 2016 audit report which details the revelations, has been presented to the Speaker of Parliament.

It is expected to be laid before the full House for further action, including the Auditor-General’s recommendations for the retrieval of huge sums due the state and the prosecution of offending officials and businesses.

In the meantime, the Auditor-General says he has applied to the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice for prosecutorial powers to enable his office pursue perpetrators of such crimes against the state, saying the massive interest of the media in their work has proven fillip enough to continue scrutinizing claims on government.

The annual reports of the Auditor General since 1992 constantly yields up corrupt and criminal practices by public officials in cahoots with service providers and contractors, which largely go unpunished, ending up mostly in news reports that attract momentary public angst.

Since June 2017, when pressure group Occupy Ghana secured the Supreme Court’s order for the Auditor-General to surcharge persons found to have misappropriated state funds, there appears to be renewed vigour to bring offenders to book.

Previously they could appear before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament and, unable to defend their commissions and omissions, still manage broad smiles in front of live cameras, aware that they could return to the comfort of their homes and suffer no let or hindrance.

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