By Emmanuel Oti Acheampong
The majority Leader of Parliament and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, has recommended to Parliament to set up a committee following a report filed by the Public Accounts Committee on some GHc 17 Billion of irregularities that occurred in the management of some 19 State institutions.
According to the report, an amount of GHc 17,483,483,539.25 was recorded as irregularities in the management of some 19 State institutions for the period ended December 31, 2021. The report pressed the Majority Leader to call on the House to constitute a committee that would further probe on the recommendations of the Public Accounts Committee.
The 19 state institutions and agencies that were cited for causing these irregularities were under the Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Ministry of Justice and Attorney-General, Ministry of Communication and Digitization, Ministry of Tourism, Creative Arts and Culture, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations. The rest were the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Information, Ministry of Works and Housing, and Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources.
He expressed the view that even though the Public Accounts Committee has as parts of its mandate to investigate the reports by the Auditor General and presents its reports to Parliament, the House also is empowered by the same constitution to further work with the Attorney General’s Department to ensure that all recommendations made by the Public Accounts Committee are carried out.
The report of the Public Accounts Committee further revealed that, the total irregularities increased from GHc 12,856,172,626 in the year 2020 to GHc 17,483,483,539.25 in 2021, representing an increase of 36.0% from the 2020 irregularities uncovered.
The report classified the irregularities under eight (8) different headings namely, Outstanding Debtors/Loans Receivable (58.98%), Dues from Customers for power sales (COVID -M19 & Others) (34.56%), Cash (2.89%), Payroll (0.05%), Procurement (1.75%), Tax (0.13) and Contract irregularities (1.62%).
