I would begin this conversation by engaging us with one fundamental question that seems to be missing in the debate around the 2021 Report issued and published by the Auditor General.
How effective is the responsible relationship between the Office of the Auditor General, Office of the Attorney General and the Office of the Special Prosecutor?
I strongly believe that if there is an answer to the above question, then there should be no argument around the GH¢17 billion that seems to be sitting comfortably in private pockets.
If recommendations such as surcharges and disallowances have been made by the internal audit agency, upon approval by the external auditors, and have now been documented for public perusal, yet nothing has been about it, then that should tell you the level of corruption in the system.
However, at least Daniel Yaw Domelevo, the immediate past Auditor General was able to issue over 100 surcharges and recovered some Millions of Ghana Cedi from private individuals, who could otherwise be termed as thieves! Meanwhile, the current Auditor General has just issued a single surcharge. Practically, this means that he is just interested in documenting and publishing monies stolen by the thieves but not showing any actions to retrieve those monies. This is a worrying development because if this narrative is not changed now, it will continue to persist into the foreseeable future. And as a self-fulfilling prophecy, subsequent Auditor Generals may toe the same direction.
Speaking from a different angle, Dr. Eric Oduro Osae, who is the Director General of the Internal Audit Agency has revealed that the Office of the Auditor General recovered over GH¢65 Million, per the collaborate work they did, so he does not understand why the Auditor General did not capture that development in the 2021 Report.
He further added that the internal Auditors do about 70% of the work of the External Auditors but their (external auditors’) average salaries are three times the salaries of internal Auditors.
“The internal Auditors do not have that authority to implement the recommendations made by them. All they can do is to name and shame and allow CSOs and other key stakeholders to prosecute all those who are culpable in the issued report,” he revealed.
Going forward, I suggest all CSOs, Anti-Corruption Agencies, the Media, key Governance and Accountability Institutions and concerned individuals to petition the three actors involved in this mess (the Auditor General, the Attorney General and the Special Prosecutor) to do the needful. Petitioning only the office of the Auditor General is not enough. It only suggests that you have misplaced priorities!
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