Accra, Ghana//-Today’s peaceful demonstration embarked by the Coalition for Democratic Accountability and Inclusive Governance (Citizens’ Coalition) has awakened Ghana’s Auditor-General Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu to his surcharge and disallow responsibility.
To this end, Mr Akuamoah Asiedu and his lieutenants have agreed to meet with the members of the Coalition which comprises Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), IMANI Africa, African Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), STAR-Ghana, and Trades Union Congress (TUC), among others on Friday 9, September 2022 to discuss on how to retrieve the billions of cedis lost to corrupt public sector workers.
Receiving a petition presented to the Auditor-General by the CSOs, the Ghana Audit Service assured Ghanaians that it would cooperate with civil society to protect the public purse.
The Deputy Auditor General in charge of Performance and Special Audits, Lawrence Ayagiba, who received the petition from WeBeCitizens protestors, said: “We as Ghana Audit Service acknowledged and agree with all that you are doing. We have a common goal that we need to fight to make sure that every cedi is accounted for.”
Presenting the petition after walking through some principal streets around the Ministries, the CSOs believe that the Auditor-General can recover such money lost through various financial infractions and irregularities at the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) through the power of surcharge and disallow.
So, they have petitioned Mr Akuamoah Asiedu, to surcharge all persons and institutions implicated in the Auditor-General’s Report on MDAs for 2019, 2020, and 2021.
The Citizens’ Coalition noted that despite the constitution mandating the Auditor-General to disallow and surcharge and the subsequent affirmation of such powers by the Supreme Court, he is yet to exercise these powers since taking office. The Coalition believes this failure emboldens public officials to continue causing financial loss to the State.
According to the Coalition, in 2018, the Auditor-General’s office recovered GHC 66 million back to government coffers through surcharges; therefore, Mr. Akuamoah Asiedu must exercise his obligation under Article 187(7)(b) of the Constitution and Section 17 of the Audit Service Act, 2000 (Act 584) to save the country from the perennial loss of limited financial resources through corruption and ill-advised public expenditure.
The Coalition enclosed in the petition a detailed list of the implicated individuals and institutions to support Mr. Akuamoah Asiedu to act — failure of which the Coalition would explore all legal options available to ensure it is done.
Monday’s picketing is the first public action undertaken by the Citizens Coalition since its launch on July 4, 2022.
The Coalition assured that it is resolved, as citizens, to insist on firm adherence to the tenets of transparency, accountability, and responsiveness from those to whom public power and national resources have been entrusted.
The demand for the Auditor-General to exercise his powers under the constitution to issue surcharges and disallowances against persons cited for various financial irregularities in 2019, 2020, and 2021 Auditor-General’s reports form part of the Coalition’s list of immediate demands and actions on accountable governance needed to be taken by some key State agencies and institutions.
