The Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) has called on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament to do more to check if the recommendations of the Auditor General’s report on financial infractions by public institutions have been carried out.
Mr. Michael Boadi, GII Fundraising Manager, who made the call, in an answer to a question on whether the inability to carry out the recommendations contributed to the inability to fight against corruption in public institutions.
Mr. Boadi was speaking on the Ghana News Agency Dialogue platform on the theme: “The fight against corruption in the Fourth Republic: A Mirage or Reality?”
The report of the Auditor General on the Public Accounts of Ghana—public boards, corporations, and other statutory institutions—is laid before Parliament in accordance with Article 187(2) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
The report, pursuant to Order 165(2) of the Standing Orders of the Parliament of Ghana, is then referred to the Public Accounts Committee for consideration and report.
Mr. Boadi said the current practice of PAC conducting inquiries after the release of the report was a duplication of the work done by the Auditor General as public institutions cited for the various infractions would have already been given the opportunity to respond to them ahead of publication.
He said that even though the work of the PAC strengthened transparency in the report, more must be done to make it effective, adding that the idea was to check if the recommendations made have been carried out.
“It’s more about finding solutions than asking questions about what has happened; the role of PAC is not to do post-audit rationalisation but rather to look at compliance with the recommendations,” he said.
Mr. Boadi suggested that the standard operation procedure of the PAC be relooked at to make their sittings more effective instead of engaging in a duplicating effort.
He disclosed that a study of the reports over the years showed that the same infractions occurred with varying figures, an indication that the recommendations made in the reports were not followed, therefore the need for PAC to ensure that those were carried out.
He also said the PAC could recommend to the Attorney General prosecuting people based on the Auditor General’s report to serve as a deterrent and strengthen the fight against corruption.
Mrs. Petra deGraft-Johnson, Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre (ALAC) Officer
At the Ghana Integrity Initiative, she commended the Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Office for the initiative, which she classified as leveraging on the work of anti-corruption bodies.
