Government charged to ensure transparency
Mr Albert Kan Dapaah, former Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), on Monday called on government to provide sound Public Financial Management Systems (PFMS) to promote transparency and accountability in the budget cycle.
He said currently, facts on the ground suggested that public funds were not being accounted for properly because key accountability arrangements were not being followed.
Mr Kan Dapaah was speaking at a public lecture organized by the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS) in Accra.
The three-day public forum, which runs from July 22 to 24, 2013, is on the theme: “Accountability in Governance”.
Mr Kan Dapaah, who spoke on the topic: “Ensuring Financial Accountability: The Role of Parliament”, said there was ground swell of frustration in the country and growing demand for efficiency, transparency and accountability in government and the public financial management.
He called for effective PFMS to ensure that donor funds and taxes paid by citizens were utilized with due regard to economy, efficiency and effectiveness.
He said crucial accounting and reporting modules, which would enable Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to capture and record all accounting transactions and produce periodical financial management information were not operational.
He said as result of this, the MDAs were unable to give account of how much revenue was made available to them and how much was spent and the financial position of the MDAs at the end of the year.
Mr Kan Dapaah further stated that to reverse this position the government must show commitment and lead the way to ensure that the accountability mechanism worked.
He said the Minister of Finance and Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) must agree to work together in the preparation of the annual budget, adding that the Auditor General must assert his independence and continue to improve the quality of work.
He called on civil society organizations and the media to put pressure on government to ensure proper accountability.
“Let us get it right. We cannot get the political class to engage in the needed reforms without pressure from civil society and the media,” he added.
Mr Franklin Cudjoe, Founding President and CEO, Imani Ghana, who spoke on the topic: “Economic Accountability in Ghana” called on government to stop the use of adhoc committees to source for donor funding for projects.
He said government must also not tag people who disagreed with them on issues and therefore ignored their useful contributions to national development.
Source: GNA