Member of Parliament for Builsa, has nearly shed tears as he blames Ghana’s woes on the educated elite.
Dr. Clement Apaak, contends that the nation’s problems are the result of the educated elite being the country’s bane.
To back up his position, lawmakers stated that Public Boards, Corporations, and Other Statutory Institutions, as well as Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, are the most responsible for the mismanagement of public resources, according to the Auditor General’s reports.
The reports, according to Dr. Apaak, a member of the Public Accounts Committee, expose the decision by a few individuals in positions of power to steal from our resources.
He stated that the 2020-2021 report is concerning and concerning given the rot discovered.
He maintained that, despite the numerous findings in the report, the Auditor General has refused to surcharge and disallow.
He stated that the Auditor General has the authority to disallow and surcharge.
However, the current AG has shown no interest in disqualifying and surcharging those involved in the violations revealed by the report.
Several of us are perplexed as to why the current AG, who was appointed after Domelevo was harassed, has refused to disallow and surcharge.
Several civil society organisations have urged him to prohibit and surcharge.
He must be brave and disallow and surcharge. Auditing is insufficient for him. He also has the authority to disallow and surcharge. If you refuse and the person involved objects, they can go to court to seek redress. That is fine if he or she has a court aide with him or her. However, if he is asked to return the money, he should do so.
Domelevo surcharged, disallowed, and retrieved 66 million dollars before leaving office. However, the bee person has made no commitment to a surcharge and disallow.
He also emphasised the importance of having those who should be sent to the Attorney General dealt with and those involved prosecuted.
He insisted that “the Public Accounts Committee cannot prosecute, and that the Attorney General must make a point of prosecuting those who have been accused of wrongdoing.
People who waste our money must be penalised. The AG must follow the rules and levy the surcharge. If the committee completes it, the Attorney General must prosecute and recover all funds misappropriated by those named in the report.”
He noted that the Public Boards, Corporations, and Statutory Institutions have been cited for an infraction of 17.4 billion in 2021 from the 12 billion in 2020.
“That tells you how bad our system is. If we are serious about recovering this money, we must retrieve these movies.”
Dr. Clement Apaak, who nearly cried, emphasised that the educated elite who are trained and educated to help deal with these infractions are the ones who are engaging in them.
He said that a large sum of money has been recovered as a result of the work of the public accounts committee.
” I’ve been on the committee since 2017, and we’re seeing a pattern, particularly at the pre-tertiary level and with the MMDCEs. We are seeing some progress. However, the problem we have seen is a lack of proper structure, and auditors and officials do not follow the established procedures when conducting their work.
The public boards, corporations, and statutory institutions are the main culprits in the waste of our resources. Infractions at these levels are increasing year after year. It is not going to change. Their infractions increased from 12 billion to 17 billion, which was not ideal.”
“These are the people who are supposed to be in charge of enforcing the rules, but it is shocking and embarrassing to realise that they are the ones breaking the rules. Bodies such as the judicial service, EOCO, and others are embroiled in this scandal. It begs numerous questions. You are the institutions with the best expertise and the best bureaucrats, so how come those institutions are not improving? Something is definitely going on, and we need to address it before things get out of hand.
He concluded that the educated elite are now stealing from poor farmers, kayayei, and others.
