WOULD THE IMPUDENCE EVER CEASE?

     The Auditor General’s annual report for the period ended December 2014 is finally out and the raving noise that has come to characterize it still lingers on. We’re back to talking plenty, doing nothing and going back to sleep, this has always been the way of the Ghanaian.  Striking and standing out in this year’s list of scandals is the usage of close to 100000 cedis on hampers by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission.

      The question that begs and beckons answering is whether we are serious as a people. A 100000 cedis on wasteful and extravagant largesse at the expense of pressing and important social issues such as poverty alleviation and provision of jobs leaves much to be desired. In diagnosing such a malaise that has become chronic if not morbid in our body politic, it’ll be important to look at the origins of such a disease.  One underlying factor that ensures the continual progress and sustainability of world powers and developed nations is the rule of law and appropriate sanctions as attached. Using the PURC as a case in point, we could say that one of the signs of this disease is blatant disregard for laid down procedures, laws and even human lives.  If ever you’ve been to rural areas where people live on less than 2 cedis a day, with close to 50% of our population hovering in the illiterate zone, and a housing deficit more than 1 million houses, a distressed economy and high youth unemployment and still go ahead to spend such gargantuan monies on an unnecessary venture called hampers then your brains need to be examined carefully. Considering how reckless such expenditures are made on the back of our sweats, how many people would want to voluntarily pay taxes if not for the reason of statutory prosecution. The government led by the Minister of Finance trumpeted their success in introducing the GIFMIS (Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System) as a way to quell these exigencies and wayside expenditures.   What is however clear, from the audited report of ministries, departments and agencies is that, there’s rather an upscale increase in how wantonly public officers draw and spend from the public purse.  

      Monies meant for developmental projects find residence in the pockets of public officials while the suffering masses continue to bear the brunt of government levies and taxes. What needs to be done to deal with this canker is to completely sever the office of the Attorney General from the Minister of Justice and to further entrench the prosecutorial powers of the Auditor General. An independent Minister of Justice would not be part of the cycle of government control and may provide a fair and holistic look at some of these matters that bother on corruption. The current Attorney General may be unable to prosecute all these cases for fear of portraying government in a bad light especially during an election year. Ghana can learn from nations like South Africa whose offices of Independent Prosecutors have led to the retrieval, protection and preservation of the public purse from mentally deranged, parochial, and morbid civil and public servants.

Columnist: Nii Adjei