Pressure Group Occupy Ghana, has welcomed recent successes chalked by the Auditor-General in recovering some GHc67 million for the state in surcharges.
But the pressure group is unhappy no one has been prosecuted for misappropriating State funds.
“OccupyGhana has received and studied a copy of the first ever Special Audit Report of the Auditor-General on Disallowance and Surcharge…We salute the Audit Service, led by the current Auditor-General for this. We are however concerned that there appears to be little effort at prosecuting those who have committed these infractions, and call upon the Attorney-General to commence prosecutions in this regard,” the group added in a statement issued on Friday.
The Auditor General released its Special Audit report on disallowance and surcharge as at November 30, 2018 in which it says it has recovered some GHc67 million.
The GHc67 million according to the report arose from monies paid back to the State from institutions who committed financial infractions between 2013 and November 2018.
The Auditor-General in the report said the amount was as a result of follow-up on recommendations in its previous reports.
“Our follow-up on the status of implementation of recommendations in the Auditor-General’s reports for the period 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2017, resulted in the recovery of a total sum of GH¢64,559,121.86 from individuals, institutions and companies who committed financial infractions.”
“Similarly, five individuals, institutions and companies who failed to account for a total amount of GH¢3,018,379.72 owed the state for various financial infractions committed prior to the issue of surcharge certificate refunded a total amount of GH¢2,578,398.00 between July 2017 and November 2018, into the Consolidated Fund…to bring the total recoveries to GH¢67,137,517.86,” the report added.
EOCO helping Audit Service retrieve GHC500m surcharges – Domelevo
The Auditor-General, Daniel Domelevo in a Citi News interview said his outfit is liaising with Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) for the recovery of some GHc500 million lost through financial infractions.
He said the Office of the Special Prosecutor has also been brought on-board for further investigations and prosecution of the criminal aspects of the infractions.
“We still have close to GHc500 million in debts and EOCO is happy to go after the culprits and collect those monies on our behalf and the special prosecutor has also shown interest especially in those ones that involve corruption,” he added.
Over GHc40 billion lost in ‘irregularities
A study conducted by pressure group, Occupy Ghana on reports of the Auditor General revealed that the State between 2003 and 2014, lost over GHc40 billion due to “irregularities” arising from Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
Occupy Ghana subsequently went to the Supreme Court over the issue and had a ruling in its favour ordering the Auditor General to surcharge persons and institutions whose actions led to the State losing huge sums of monies yearly.
GHc5.4 billion wrongfully paid
A 2016 audit of the finances of the various ministries, departments and agencies, revealed that some state agencies engaged in unlawful monetary practices.
The Auditor General, Daniel Domelevo had also earlier disclosed that, some GHc5.4 billion was wrongfully paid to contractors and other service providers by officials at the various ministries between 2014-2017.
Domelevo said he has disallowed such payments, and has recommended prosecution of the officials who presided over same.
62 firms surcharged by Auditor General
62 organizations were in 2017 surcharged by the Auditor for receiving payments from the state without any documentation as proof.
The surcharge certificates totaling GHc8,886,791.910 covered the period between December 31, 2013 and December 31, 2015.
The companies, mostly private organizations, also included some state institutions and staff of some government agencies.
Give me prosecutorial powers
The Auditor-General in February 2018, said he had applied to the Attorney General to grant him powers to prosecute persons indicted in the Auditor General’s report.
Below is the full statement from Occupy Ghana:
OCCUPYGHANA® SALUTES AUDITOR-GENERAL ON DISALLOWANCES AND SURCHARGES AND URGES THE PROSECUTION OF PERSONS FOUND CULPABLE
OccupyGhana® has received and studied a copy of the first ever Special Audit Report of the Auditor-General on Disallowance and Surcharge. This is the report as at 30th November 2018, that mentions how much has been saved to the nation in Disallowances, how much has been surcharged, and how much has been recovered. We salute the Audit Service, led by the current Auditor-General for this. We are however concerned that there appears to be little effort at prosecuting those who have committed these infractions, and call upon the Attorney-General to commence prosecutions in this regard.
The heart of every Ghanaian would be gladdened at the saving of the net total of GHS 5,445,676,134.53, which some government officials fraudulently claimed was owed on various government contracts, but which had been already paid. This attempt to fleece Ghana of this colossal sum was only stopped by the Auditor-General issuing Disallowances. Further, the recovery of GHS 67,137,517.86 as a result of the Auditor-General’s Surcharges and recovery efforts must be lauded by all Ghanaians. Meanwhile, there are Surcharges of almost half a billion Cedis outstanding, waiting for enforcement.
For us at OccupyGhana®, this Report and the developments it contains are a major manifestation of the victory Ghana won in OCCUPYGHANA V. ATTORNEY-GENERAL, where the Supreme Court stated emphatically that:
“…the Auditor-General is expected to NAME the persons who commit irregularities etc., under article 187(7)(b) and section 17 of Act 584 respectively, RECOVER the amounts from them and thereafter those persons be made to FACE appropriate punishment. THAT SHOULD BE THE WAY FORWARD” [Emphases added.]
For us, this Report is also the culmination of the journey that started on 12th November 2014 when we first wrote to the Auditor-General then, demanding the exercise of the Disallowance and Surcharge powers given to that office by the Constitution. We cannot forget the quick 13th November 2014 response of the Acting Auditor-General then, first reminding us of the independence of the office and then offering to educate us “on the validity or otherwise of matters raised in your letter concerning disallowances and surcharges.”
We vividly remember our 25th November 2014 response in which we pointed out to the then Auditor-General that his independence did “not preclude the power of the court from inquiring into whether or not you have performed your functions according to the Constitution.” We reminded him that the Constitution “places a mandatory duty on administrative bodies and officials like you to comply with the legal requirements imposed on you, and then vests in persons dissatisfied with your work, such as us, a right to seek redress by commencing court proceedings against you.” We concluded that “simply, either you have done your work or you have not done your work.”
What followed this initial fiery exchange of letters, was a year and a half during which the then Auditor-General pretended to collaborate with us to institute the Disallowance and Surcharge regime, but failed to take any concrete steps. He even formed a Joint Working Group with us, which was never duly constituted and never worked. It was not as if we were just spoiling for a fight. That is why in this period, we were honoured with the opportunity to draft and submit to the Rules of Court Committee the rules that were finally passed into law as the HIGH COURT (CIVIL PROCEDURE) (AMENDMENT) (NO. 2) RULES, 2016 (CI 102). This law inserted a new Order 54A in the High Court Rules to regulate Disallowances and Surcharge appeals, in compliance with article 187(9) and (10) of the Constitution. It was therefore with great reluctance that on 21st June 2016, we filed the action titled OCCUPYGHANA V. ATTORNEY-GENERAL (WRIT NO. J1/19/2016) in the Supreme Court.
In its seminal judgment dated 14th June 2017, the Supreme Court rejected each defence that was put up, including challenging the jurisdiction of the Court to hear the matter. The Court granted each of the reliefs that we sought, pointing out that
“…the ‘may’ in article 187(7)(b) of the Constitution, 1992, becomes a mandatory ‘may,’ and no longer permissive. This affords us the opportunity to enforce the provisions of article 187(7)(b) which will deepen probity and accountability.”
For us that was not a personal victory or even a vindication. It was a colossal victory for Ghanaians who would read, on a yearly basis, a merely journalistic recount by the then Auditors-General to Parliament of blatant stealing of national wealth, accompanied by obviously impotent recommendations, and which saw no tangible or concrete results. What was even more painful were these words that featured prominently and repeatedly in each of the Auditors-General’s annual report:
“The cataloguing of financial irregularities in my Report on MDAs and Other Agencies has become AN ANNUAL RITUAL THAT SEEMS TO HAVE NO EFFECT…” [Emphasis added.]
We applaud the bold steps taken and results obtained by the current Audit Service under the leadership of the current Auditor-General, Daniel Domelevo. We urge them not to relent in enforcing the judgment of the Supreme Court, prevent, where possible, the theft of the nation’s monies, and recover for Ghana whatever is stolen.
We conclude by urging the Attorney-General to commence the prosecution of the persons who either caused, attempted to or conspired to cause these losses to Ghana. The Supreme Court was clear that there must be “appropriate punishment” and stated thus:
“…the Attorney-General is hereby ordered to take all necessary steps to enforce the decision or steps taken by the Auditor-General… to ensure compliance including in some cases criminal prosecutions.”
The Auditor-General appears to have done his part. The ball is now firmly in the court of the Attorney-General.
Yours, for God & Country,
OccupyGhana®
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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey | citinewsroom.com | Ghana