Accountability and public expenditure

By Kofi Akordor
A week ago today, Tuesday, October 16, 2007, to be precise, Ghana took another giant step in its determination to ensure good democratic governance and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament held its first public proceedings. That decision opens the doors to members of the public to have first –hand information on how persons placed in responsible positions are conducting themselves as representatives of the people.
Revelations on the first day when officials of the Ministry of Tourism and Diasporean Relations led by Mr. Stephen Asamoah-Boateng, the Sector Minister proved that the exercise was worthwhile and, therefore, must be sustained. From their responses to questions posed by the PAC members led by Mr. Salas Mensah, its chairman, it became obvious that there is need for hard supervision and monitoring in our Ministries, Departments and Agencies if public money should not go down the drain. Queries were raised on submission of imprest, improper award of consultancy services and uncompetitive procurement methods which contributed to the loss of funds running into billions of cedis.
When it was the turn of the Ministry of Health on the second day, things did not prove better. Funds running into billions of cedis including a dollar account were not covered by any documentation.
By the third day when it was the turn of the Ministry of Transportation, it became obvious that those placed in positions of responsibility had either out of negligence or pure criminality have taken this country for a ride. The committee was told that some accountants of the ministry have embezzled funds running into billion of cedis.
Two names actually surfaced at the hearing for embezzling a total of 5.5 billion cedis which was withholding tax deducted from contractors which should have been paid to the Internal Revenue Service. These were that of Messrs Nicholas Sakyi and A.E. Kaati of the Kumasi and Sekondi offices of the Department of Urban Roads respectively.
It was evident from information available to the PAC that the state has lost large sums of money through several fraudulent means including delay in the execution of projects, unremmitted withholding of tax, unapproved contract variations and unpaid mobilization of advances.
It has always been argued that contracts and procurement are areas where the state is very vulnerable in the hands of corrupt and inefficient public servants and revelations at the PAC proceedings have confirmed this. Strangely, these thefts took place between 2002 and 2005. So why should they take so long to be uncovered? As the PAC chairman observed, part had to do laxity in supervision and incompetence. The other was the disinterest shown by the contractors in their Tax Credit Certificates.
Whatever be the case, the revelations of the past few days go to show that this nation has over the years billions in funds which should have been used to develop it and held her emerge from abject poverty.
They also lend credence to the belief of many that our beggar status was self-inflicted. It is very disheartening that while so much is going down the drain or ending up in a few individual’s pockets; the nation is always on the begging spree asking for anything in sight from whoever is ready to look our side.
Even the donor countries and institutions have cause to complain about the laxity in the financial administration of the country. This has resulted in the loss of international confidence and support on several fronts. Where countries and institutions are willing to assist they demand certain conditions which sometimes we are not able to meet to qualify for the available support. Some even demand that their own are put in charge of affairs where disbursement is concerned.
Kufuor’s government came to power with a strong message of zero tolerance for corruption. The government went ahead to get into existence, three important legislative instruments which were to energize the fight against corruption. These are the Public Procurement Act, the Financial Administration Act and the Internal Audit Act. These were described as classical monuments in the government’s fight against corruption.
These, in addition to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and the Office of Accountability, were to serve as bulwarks against corruption and other financial malpractices. Unfortunately, the SFO Act of 1993 (Act 466), has so much diluted the powers of the office that in its present form, it lacks the necessary independence and authority to execute its mandate.
Even though the SFO was to “investigate public acts likely to result in serious financial or economic loss to the state”, its operation comes directly under Executive control to the extent that there should not be the need for any pretences that it can carry out its functions effectively. There is, therefore, the need for the review of its legislative instrument to give it sufficient independence and power to prosecute suspected offenders. It will also build public confidence in the anti-corruption agencies and the government’s declaration of war on corruption.
In the next few days or weeks, Ghanaians must brace up for more revelations which will churn their stomach. People may want to do politics out of them as usual. But on a serious note, we need to show concern about how our national resources can go on enriching others while our children continue to squat under trees for classes.
We must begin to understand why we have poor roads even though we are always told these roads have been awarded on contract. We must begin to understand why people who complain of low remuneration could afford mansions and expensive cars.
The system has become so rotten that one is unable to determine where to start from. But all said and done, the politicians who always promise to stamp corruption from the system deserve the greater blame. They may not be everywhere all the time, but their disposition and the manner they handle perceived abuses of office by those who serve under them will send ample signal that they could not be manipulated easily. But where they also chart their own path to easy wealth they will definitely open the floodgates for others to do so.
President John Agyekum Kufuor has always said that he is ready to act on any credible information about misconduct on the part of any of his ministers or senior officials. The public proceedings of the PAC offers him a good opportunity to determine those who did well and those who did not. After that Ghanaians will see how he reacts.