Month: May 2022

As plans are far advanced to open Ghana’s Parliamentary Committee meetings to the media and the public when the revised Standing Orders of the House is approved, Clerk to Parliament Mr Cyril Kwabena Nsiah has admonished members of the Parliamentary Press Corps to specialize.

According to him the various Committees in Parliament have their independent budget and they decide on where they are going and the team they want to go with. To this, estimates is done and submitted to the Speaker who approves it and sent to the Clerk’s office for processing.
He made this known at a capacity building workshop for members of the Parliamentary Press Corps (PPC), where the Dean appealed that the Committees of Parliament should take a member or two of the members of the PPC along so that they share whatever information with their colleagues for publication.

“It’s important to bring this to the attention of the committees and it would not be a problem; our standing orders which is being worked on and approved by the House committee meetings are supposed to be open to the public. As at now all committee meetings are closed to the public, unless the chair declares it open”.

And gave an example of what pertains at the Public Account and Appointment Committee and as done in several other countries. “You have to specialize in areas like financial, environment and other committees, and then they would get to know you as you write good stories for them naturally they carry you along when they are traveling”.

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The Commissioner for Finance at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, Mrs Halima Ahmed said the inherited problem of preparing financial report has been addressed and happy about the collaboration between the Commission and Parliament.

According to her when the current Finance Management assumed office in March 2018, there were backlog of financial statements that were not prepared dating back to four (4) year pending audit.

“Fast forward today, I am proud to report that we have updated our accounts, produced financial statements and got them audited using the International Public Accounting Standards (IPSAS)”.

And added that, they have, also produced consolidated Financial Statements of all ECOWAS institutions, and by next month June 2022 they would publish the Financial Statements in line with the provisions of ECOWAS Financial Regulations.

Again, with that the financial situation of ECOWAS will be regularly available to the citizens for their appreciation, thereby improving public accountability.

Under the current management, the implementation of the enhanced powers of the Parliament commenced with the consideration of the budget of the Community.

Mrs Halima Ahmed made this remarks in Lome-Togo at the commencement of a five days joint   Committee meeting involving Public Accounts | Administration, Finance and Budget | Macroeconomic Policies and Economic Research | Trade, Customs and Free Movement of the ECOWAS Parliament which started on Monday, May 16, 2022.

She further noted that the significant step in the direction of public accountability and the  opinions expressed on the budget now constitute a core part of the budget approval process by Council of Ministers.

Moreover, they have revised the ECOWAS Protocol on Community Levy and replaced it with a Community Levy Act. The new Act has made some provision for the role of the ECOWAS Parliament in Community Levy mobilization.

Therefore, little by little, they are seeing the enhancements in the role of Parliament in the community integration process. However, these changes also confer on the Parliamentarians more responsibility.

 In addition, the responsibility to devote more time and attention to fine details, to establishing a connection between what they do at the regional level and the situation of their constituencies. It is therefore, encouraging that this Joint Committee will be examining the specific provisions of the Supplementary Act of the Parliament on consideration of the Community Audit Reports.

“Again, as a pioneer Secretary General of the ECOWAS Parliament and presently Commissioner for Finance, will continue to provide the Parliament with the necessary support that it requires”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com/Lome-Togo

Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of the Community Parliament, Bida Nouhoume Youssoufou Abdouramani is advocating for the promotion and practice of transparency and accountability.

According to him audit is an instrument, a tool of financial control, which is employed by the public or private sector or an individual to safeguard itself against fraud, extravagance and more importantly to bring credibility to the audited.

And the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions, audit is defined as “Evaluation or examination of systems, operations and activities of a specific entity, to ascertain they are executed, or they function within the framework of certain budget, objectives, rules and requirements.”

This is a modern definition of audit in public sector and does not constrict itself with only cash audit, which was the case originally.

Auditing is part of the permanent monitoring and evaluation system within large organizations; the   desire for transparency in the management of ECOWAS Institutions has been accompanied by the recent creation of the Office of the Auditor General as an Institution, independent of other Institutions.

In the same vein, Parliament created in March 2020, during its inaugural session in Niamey, the Public Account Commission, with a view to supporting this dynamic of seeking transparency and publicly reporting on the efficiency of the entities of the ECOWAS.

For sound and effective functioning of the Community and to ascertain that the benefit of public funds (Community Levy) is being used, reach the lowest strata of society and to every individual, annual audit is an indispensable tool.

 It helps secure accountability of the executive to the Parliament and towards the public in general. The legislature can exercise control over the executives and verify that the public resources (Community Levy) have been utilized responsibly for the purpose intended, and funds raised through various sources like taxes reach government fully.

Mr. Bida Nouhoume Youssoufou Abdouramani, noted that as a member of the ECOWAS Parliament and as the privileged chair of the standing Committee on Public Accounts, he  would like to greatly thank the Rt. Hon. Speaker and his  colleagues of the ECOWAS Parliament for selecting Lomé to host this very important meeting.

The joint Committee meeting in Togo is on the theme, ‘‘The modalities for the practical implementation of Articles 9 and 11 of the Supplementary Act of the Parliament in respect of the consideration of the Community Audit Reports’’.

The following Committees are participating in the Lome-Togo meeting; Public Accounts | Administration, Finance and Budget | Macroeconomic Policies and Economic Research | Trade, Customs and Free Movement of the ECOWAS Parliament.

The theme of the meeting is, ‘‘The modalities for the practical implementation of Articles 9 and 11 of the Supplementary Act of the Parliament in respect of the consideration of the Community Audit Reports’’

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com/Lome-Togo

The Clerk of Ghana’s Parliament Mr. Cyril Kwabena Nsiah has underscored the role of the Parliamentary Press Corps as crucial to the sustainability and growth of parliamentary democracy, particularly in Ghana’s current dispensation where the country has a unique composition of Parliament.

According to him now more than ever, the tenets of the country’s democratic credentials are being tested and how it navigate this period and its associate complexities would determine how far the country travels on the path of democracy and development.

He made this known when he delivered an address at a two days capacity building workshop on the theme “A Knowledgeable Reporter as a Promoter of Multi-Party Parliamentary Democracy” for members of the Parliamentary Corps (PPC) over the weekend.

And further added that as the fourth estate of the realm the media is required to provide Ghanaians with objective, timely and relevant information to assist them make informed and responsible choices, in the democratic process.

“The media can only play this role effectively if it is armed with the requisite skills sets, techniques and knowledge required for the performance of its duties”.

According to him, Parliament recognizes the importance of bringing its proceedings to the doorsteps of the citizenry, and in this regard Parliamentary Service recently completed and handed over a well-equipped office to the PPC as a way of supporting it; a testament of the services commitment to ensure that the media is well-positioned and capacitated to provide balanced and accurate reportage on matters relating to Parliament.

“In line with this we hope that you will live up to your responsibilities in line with professional and ethical journalistic standards. This requires you to perform your duties without any partisan consideration and ensure that information flowing from your reportage is accurate and factual”

As Ghanaians have a lot of trust and confidence in journalists, such that they virtually believe or take the information you circulate as factual and truthful.

And it underscores why you should always crosscheck your information before reporting, because it is always difficult to reverse inaccurate or false reportage once its fed to the public, he added.

Mr. Nsiah admonished the media not to only focus on proceedings on the floor of the House, but pay attention to other parliamentary events in order to present a holistic picture of the House.

He reminded all and sundry that both the Press and Parliament which serve the public interest are vital for the successful as well as smooth functioning of the country’s democracy.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

 Four Committees of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament are starting a five days meeting today Monday, May 16, 2022 in the Togoless capital Lome to pursue a mechanism of reviewing Community Audit Reports.

The four out of the fourteen Standing Committees are as follow:
Public Account/Administration, Finance and Budget/Macroeconomic Policy and Economics Research/Trade, Customs and Free Movement as the Public Account become the lead Committee for the joint Committee.
The meeting is on the theme, “The modalities for the practical implementation of Articles 9 and 11, the Supplementary Act of the Parliament, in respect of the consideration of the Community audit reports”.

A statement issued by the Communication division noted that the objective of the Lome meeting is to enable members of the joint Committee examine the Audit Report of the various institutions under the Community agencies with the aim of better understanding and taking ownership of their implementation.

It is to further strength and consolidate the collaboration between all the Community institutions, particularly the Parliament and the office of the Auditor General of ECOWAS Institutions.

In addition, as part of enhancing the Supplementary Audit reports of the Community Institutions and agencies are among the areas in which the Parliament must be consulted, in other to give its opinion.

The objective of the exercise is to contribute to the promotion of accountability and good governance within Community institutions and agencies.

It is expected that various presentations by sector experts and resource persons during the meeting, will thus, elucidate the importance of parliamentary intervention in the process of control and promotion of transparency in the use of Community resources.

The ECOWAS Parliament is composed of 115 seats. Each of the 15 Member States is guaranteed an allocation of five seats. The remaining forty seats are distributed in proportion to the population of each country. Consequently, Nigeria has 35 seats; Ghana 8; Côte d’Ivoire 7; Burkina Faso; Guinea, Mali, Niger and Senegal have 6 seats each.

The other countries, namely Benin, Cape Verde, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Togo have 5 seats each.

Article 9 and 11 are as follows:

Article 9. MANDATORY REFERRAL

1. Referral to Parliament is Mandatory in the following areas
a. Community budget:

b. Revision of the Treaty and its annexes,

c. Annual Audit Reports of Community Organs and Institutions:

d. Adoption or Review of all Community Acts relating to ECOWAS Economic and Monetary Integration including trade, customs, free movement of persons, goods and services, infrastructure, monetary cooperation, industry and mining, private sector and investment promotion; –

e. Without prejudice to Article 10(d) of this Supplementary Act, other integration matters covered by the Technical Committees established under New Article 22, new paragraph (1b) of the Supplementary Protocol A/SP.1/06/06 amending the Revised Treaty; and

f. Any other sectoral policy decided upon by the Authority.

2. All referrals shall be transmitted to the Parliament in the three (3) working languages of the Community.

Article 11, OPINION

1. An Opinion of Parliament is required on the consideration of the Community Budget, the annual audit reports on Community, institutions, and other areas referred to under Article 9.1 of this Supplementary Act.

2. Where Parliament fails to render an Opinion within the period stipulated, the Parliament shall be deemed to have given an opinion.

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The Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), James Klutse-Avedzi has given a two week ultimatum for monies misappropriated and overpayment of deferred leave allowance be retrieved from officers of various institutions that appeared before the Committee at the beginning of the Public Hearing of the 2018 Auditor-General’s Report in the Western Region.

PAC is considering the Auditor General’s report of Ghana-Polytechnics for the period ended 31st December, 2018.

Reports of the Auditor-General on the Management and Utilisation of District Assemblies Common Fund and other statutory Funds for the year ended 31st December, 2018 and Reports on Accounts of District Assemblies (IGF) for the year ended 31st December, 2018.

The above reports cover all educational institutions as well as all Assemblies cited in the Auditor General’s Report in the Central, Western and North Western Regions.

The accounts of the Technical Universities and Polytechnics for the period 1st January 2018 to 31st December, 2018 have been audited in accordance with Article 186(2) of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana.

Issues raised in the Auditor General’s Report against some Technical Universities are; failure to seek Auditor General’s approval for forensic audit, use of IGF for the payment of book and research allowances, un-acquitted payments, un-retired Impress, among other infractions.

The Committee will sit in the Western Region from today Monday 9th to Saturday 14th May, 2022.

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