Joe Jackson, Chief Executive Officer of Dalex Finance Ghana, has urged for the prosecution of people involved in financial irregularities discovered during the recent audit of public claims filed to the Ministry of Finance.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile programme on Saturday, March 14, Mr Jackson emphasised that the government must go beyond simply detecting wrongdoing and ensure that those involved face the full rigours of the law.
His comments come after the Ministry of Finance revealed that billions of cedis in public claims were rejected following an investigation that discovered extensive irregularities.
Deputy Finance Minister Thomas Nyarko Ampem made a statement in Parliament on behalf of Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, revealing that GH8.1 billion in claims had been rejected because of problems like unsupported documentation, duplicate submissions, inflated figures, and payments for work that was never completed.
In response to the situation, Mr. Jackson stated that Ghana cannot continue to permit such actions to take place everytime there is a change in government without repercussions.
“We can’t continue to allow this to happen every time there is a change in government, and nothing is done about it. No, we can’t. Someone must be prosecuted, and someone must be jailed for it,” he said.
GH¢45.4 billion of the GH¢68.7 billion in claims that were submitted for validation were authorised for payment, while GH¢13.2 billion was flagged because of grave concerns.
In order to prevent further financial losses and improve public sector accountability, the Ministry of Finance has since referred the findings to the Office of the Attorney-General and the Ministry of Justice for potential criminal prosecution. Additionally, a stringent “triple-lock” accountability framework has been implemented.
Source: newsthemegh.com