The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Bernard Ahiafo, has referred the report on some irregularities cited in the Auditor-General’s report on arrears and payables as of 2024, to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for investigation and report to the House.
This was after the decision to refer the report to PAC had been fiercely contested by the leadership of the Majority and Minority in Parliament.
Presenting the statement to the House on Tuesday, the Deputy Finance Minister, Mr Thomas Nyarko Ampem, on behalf of the sector Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, identified a total amount of GH¢ 8.1 billion in rejected payment due to several reasons, including unsupported documentation, duplication, and over-statements.
In his contribution to the statement, the Minority Leader, Mr Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, noted that while the his caucus was in full support of the statement and the need to fix the loopholes in the country’s financial system to ensure accountability, it would not tolerate any form of “political point scoring” by the Majority caucus.
“Mr Speaker, if a Deputy Minister mounts the dispatch box and includes this in his statement that the audit has exposed a rotten system designed to fleece to people of Ghana, then obviously nobody will take him serious. The conclusion will be that he is here on a partisan and political agenda with no consequence but to please a certain gallery of vulnerable Ghanaians and that we want to stop you in your track,” Mr Afenyo-Markin said.
“Mr Deputy Minister, we are just calm and watching you guys not because we don’t know. If you are talking about rot and a system that has been designed to fleece the people, then you have a lot,” he added.
Mr Afenyo-Markin further questioned the involvement of the Council of State in the request of the special audit by President John Dramani Mahama, noting “We have had opportunity of seeing the Finance Minister’s directive to the Auditor-General as contained in the directive by the President, and no reference was made to the Council of State.”
He, therefore, suggested that the statement by the Deputy Minister should be referred to the PAC for hearing and investigation.
However, such a decision was strongly opposed by the Majority Leader and MP for Bawku Central, Mr Mahama Ayariga, who suggested that a special committee should be created to investigate the statement and audit report.
Mr Ayariga explained that it was inappropriate to refer to the statement and audit report to PAC, as its Chairperson was part of the previous government under which the irregularities identified in the audit report took place.
He further described the special forensic audit conducted by the Ministry of Finance with support from the Attorney-General and some financial consultants, as a detailed report that revealed the loopholes in the country’s financial system and architecture.
Mr Ayariga also noted that the report presented by the Deputy Finance Minister was not to divert attention on the issues in the cocoa sector as suggested by the Minority caucus, noting “The incapacity of the economy to support cocoa farmers was as a result of the looting that occurred.”
BY BENJAMIN ARCTON-TETTEY
Join our WhatsApp Channel now! https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbAjG7g3gvWajUAEX12Q
Follow our WhatsApp Channel now! https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbAjG7g3gvWajUAEX12Q
