News:
August 16, 2011
The Vice Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament, Kweku Agyemang Manu has called for the speedy establishment of a financial tribunal to deal with recommendations made by the PAC.
According to him, the financial tribunal when in operation will ensure that recommendations including fines and prosecutions made by the Public Accounts Committee against persons found culpable by the Auditor General’s report are upheld.
Staggering revelations of financial impropriety have been made against some officials of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning at the resumed public sitting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament in Accra yesterday.
The committee’s sitting, expected to last five days, will consider reports of the Auditor-General (AG) on the accounts of Ghana for 2007, 2008 and 2009.
The audit report indicated that during the audit of the treasury accounts of the Finance Ministry, a schedule officer at the treasury, Mr Francis Aryeetey, failed to produce payment voucher covering GH¢351,900.
The report said auditors were informed that Mr Aryeetey allegedly effected the payment using falsified documents aimed at misappropriating the amount from the MOFEP Contingency Account Funds.
He made the sentiments in the wake of calls by the public for persons found to have embezzled public funds to be prosecuted.
Speaking on e.tv Ghana on Tuesday, Vice Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and Member of Parliament for Dormaa West, Kweku Agyemang Manu stated that the PAC has limitations and does not wield power to prosecute anyone found culpable.
He said the PAC in its dealings have employed several means to retrieve monies embezzled by public officers, but the power to take legal actions against such people does not fall within the PAC’s domain.
By: Kwadwo Anim/ghanamps.gov.gh