President Akufo-Addo has opined that budget allocations to institutions responsible for public sector accountability under his administration is unprecedented.
Speaking at a ceremony to mark the anti-corruption day stated that “it is also an undeniable fact that budgetary allocations for institutions actively engaged in public sector accountability, i.e., the Office of the Auditor-General, the Judiciary, Parliament and the Ghana Police Service, have witnessed unprecedented increases since I assumed office in 2017”.
At the end of 2021, he indicated that the budgetary allocation to Parliament had witnessed a one hundred and ninety four percent (194%) increase, compared to what was inherited in 2016; the Police had seen its budget increase by one hundred and sixty-two percent (162%) at the end of 2021, in comparison to 2016; the Audit Service had recorded an eighty three percent (83%) rise in its budgetary allocation at the end of 2021, as compared to 2016; the budget of the Judiciary had risen by fifty-one percent (51%) at the end of 2021, compared to 2016; the budget of the Office of the Attorney-General had increased by fifty percent (50%) at the end of 2021, compared to 2016; whilst the budget of CHRAJ had increased by twenty-one percent (21%) at the end of 2021, compared to 2016.
These figures, according to President Akufo-Addo, “reflect my resolve to ensure that institutions of state of relevance in the anti-corruption agendum are properly equipped to discharge satisfactorily the mandate of their offices”.
On ensuring value for money through the review of single source and restricted tender applications, he stated that the Public Procurement Authority, between January 2019 and August 2021, recorded savings to the tune of GH¢2.3 billion.
“In 2017, my first year in office, the savings, made over the year as a result of such reviews, amounted to some eight hundred million cedis (GH¢800 million). Contrast this to the situation in 2016 where a grand total of zero savings was made,” he added.
In the area of investigations and prosecution of corruption and corruption related offences, the President noted that a distinct innovation was undertaken by his administration in 2017, with the decision to set up an Office of Special Prosecutor, through the passage of the Office of Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959).
“The establishment of the Office of Special Prosecutor represents the most courageous measure by any government, since independence, to prosecute corruption in the executive arm of government. The monopoly of prosecutorial authority by an Attorney-General, hired or fired by a President, had been identified by many as a key factor standing in the way of law enforcement and prosecution as a credible tool in the fight against corruption before 2017,” he added.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
