By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
The 2022 Government Waste Report, which was issued by the Institute for Liberty and Policy Innovation (ILPI), has revealed that the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has, for the past four years, received over GH¢446 million to fight corruption.
“Fighting corruption is just like fighting the government’s own evil. Notwithstanding the importance of the OSP, the fight against corruption looks endless and wasteful spending.
It is imperative to note that, corruption in Ghana has not seen any significant truncation since the Corruption Perception Index still disclosed that Ghana was ranked 73 out of 180 countries with the same score of 43 as of 2021,” the report said.
In the area of government’s wasteful expenditure, report said several key areas contribute to the government’s wasteful spending.
Portions of the report read: “The major factor is the lack of transparent and accountable procurement processes. This denotes, inefficient bidding systems, inadequate oversight mechanisms, and instances of corruption lead to inflated contract prices, and wastage of public funds.
Another contributing factor is the presence of redundant or obsolete government programs and agencies. These entities often duplicate functions, resulting in inefficient resource allocation and unnecessary administrative costs.
Rationalizing and streamlining such programs and agencies can help eliminate waste and redirect resources to more productive areas. Insufficient evaluation of project feasibility, unrealistic cost estimates, and poor monitoring of expenditures often amount to cost overruns and misallocation of resources.
Furthermore, major factors discovered through Representative Perception Polls include, Presidential travels, the National Cathedral project, Saglemi Housing units, Government size, Youth employment programs, the Bank Clean up Exercise, fighting Galamsey, etc.”
To mitigate this wasteful spending and gain citizens trust, the report, however, suggests the strengthening of budgetary processes and introducing effective oversight mechanisms in promoting a culture of fiscal responsibility within the government’s financial architectures.