Punish ‘corrupt’ public officers – Auditor General tells Judiciary

The Auditor General, Richard Quartey has charged the judiciary to ensure that public officers who engage in corruption and waste state resources are punished without fear or favour. According to him, this will end the impunity with which government officials plunder state resources usually seen in the Auditor General’s reports. Speaking at the 6th Annual Audit service accountability lectures, the Auditor General also tasked the judiciary and all stakeholders to put the nation first in their work to ensure Ghana prospers.
He said one expects the judiciary to make sure that the appropriate sanctions are given to corrupt public officers, adding that if the judiciary performs its role effectively without fear the nation’s financial management system will improve. “State agencies responsible for the protection and adjudication should promptly act on cases of corruption and mismanagement without favour to serve as deterrent.” Richard Quartey also stated that government’s accounting systems and the work of the audit service are of considerable importance in the country.
He also asked Parliament to follow up diligently to ensure that recommendations from the various audit reports are implemented to the letter. “There is a need for a more effective follow up mechanisms on the final public account report and the auditor general’s report endorsed by Parliament to prevent or minimize occurrence of  malfeasance  committed by public officials. The general public, civil society organizations and accountability institutions and state should continually perform their watchdog role over the public purse,” he added. The Public Accounts Committee has over the years lamented the pervasive nature of corruption in the nation’s public service. In 2014, the Head of the Human Security Department of the National Security Secretariat, Brigadier-General Joseph Nunoo–Mensah (rtd) expressed concerns over the never-ending corruption cases in Ghana, saying the situation has reached an epidemic status.
 
Source – Citifm