Hot!
Staff of 3 state institutions to be prosecuted for misappropriating Covid funds
The Director-General of the Internal Audit Agency (IAA), Dr Eric Oduro Osae, has revealed that staff of three state institutions will soon be prosecuted for misappropriating Covid-19 funds.
According to him, the Agency is collaborating with the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) to fast track the processes for the prosecution.
Dr Oduro Osae was speaking at the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition public forum on the accountability gap in Covid-19 responses of Ghana.
He said in 2021, they started receiving internal audit reports from the internal auditors as far as the Covid-19 expenditure audit is concerned.
“We started reviewing them in 2021 and some of the expenditure areas were revealing. Areas where we have challenges we do a follow up. A team is sent to the field to go and validate.
“Those we think have criminal consequences, we would work with EOCO to prosecute them. I’m not allowed to indicate what we are doing or the level of prosecution but I can assure you that at the moment, we are working with EOCO to prosecute three institutions,” he disclosed.
He added that the IAA has already set up an audit report review panel to audit all Covid-19 spending.
“As far as the Internal Audit Agency is concerned, we continued to pursue and establish how total Covid-19 expenditure were spent and whether we are getting value for money.”
“The challenge with Covid-19 expenditure is that it is bothered by service delivery which we use financial audit. This won’t aid in us getting the needed results; we need a performance audit,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, James Klutse Avedzi, said the House will continue to look into the infractions of COVID-19 expenditure and those found guilty recommended for prosecution.
According to him, persons involved in the misappropriation of the funds will not be spared.
“There is always a gap of a year or two between the time the report is issued and the time the Public Account Committee discussed the report. Covid-19 expenditure is something we did not plan for and in pandemic of this nature it’s an opportunity for some people to enrich themselves so it will be good to look into it and take it as a project to ensure that people don’t abuse the system”, he revealed.
The Minority in Parliament has filed a Private Member’s motion for an inquiry into the expenditure made by the government during the Covid-19 period.
The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu; the Minority Chief Whip, Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka and Minority Spokesperson on Finance, Cassiel Ato Forson filed a motion to Alban Bagbin, asking for a bipartisan probe into the ¢8.1 billion expenditure by government.
That motion was admitted.
However, the First Deputy Speaker, who subsequently presided over proceedings in the House in the Speaker’s absence, dismissed the motion.
Currently, the Minority is readying to challenge the dismissal of their motion.
Explaining the Majority’s stance against the motion, Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, stated that the auditing of the Covid expenditure should be left to the appropriate state agencies to deal with.
On Wednesday, February 23, Speaker Alban Bagbin expressed dissatisfaction with his deputy, Joesph Osei-Owusu, for dismissing the motion and described the act as illegal and unconstitutional.
Source: www.myjoyonline.com
Hot!
GEXIM deepens relations with US EXIM Bank
A management team of the Ghana Export – Import Bank (GEXIM) led by the Acting Chief Executive, Sylvester Mensah met with the leadership of the Export–Import Bank of the United States (US EXIM) on Wednesday April 23, 2025 in Washington DC, United States of America.
The Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM, Mr. James C. Cruse and Vice President, International Relations, Ms. Isabel Galdiz received the GEXIM delegation, which included Deputy CEO for Banking, Mr. Moses Klu Mensah and Head of International Cooperation, Mr. Jonathan Christopher Koney at the headquarters of US EXIM.
The meeting offered the GEXIM team the opportunity to share the strategic direction of the Bank in line with the resetting agenda of the President of the Republic, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama for the repositioning of the Ghanaian economy into an export-led one by providing the requisite investment to Ghanaian businesses.
Mr. James C. Cruse expressed US EXIM’s eagerness to deepen its existing relations with GEXIM and proposed the signing of a new Cooperative Framework Agreement following the expiration of a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2019 to utilize US EXIM’s medium term loan guarantees to procure machinery by GEXIM for qualified Ghanaian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
Mr.Sylvester Mensah thanked the Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM for hosting the GEXIM delegation and reaffirmed the Ghanaian government’s commitment to strengthening trade and investment between Ghana and its global partners for economic transformation of Ghana with GEXIM playing a pivotal role.
The two teams will be meeting on the sidelines of the 2025 US EXIM Annual Conference on 29th and April 30, 2025 to explore possible areas of collaboration and matching Ghanaian businesses to American companies. The meeting ended with an exchange of gifts.
Hot!
Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation –Pres.Mahama
President John Dramani Mahama has expressed concern over the misuse of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) for personal financial gain by individuals in leadership positions.
Speaking during a meeting with Chief Executives of specified entities under the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) on Thursday, March 13, the President directly attributed the dire state of SOEs to their leadership, accusing chief executives, management teams, and governing boards of prioritising personal enrichment over organisational efficiency.
He pointed to bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures as factors draining public funds while SOEs continue to rely on government bailouts.
“Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation by appointees. The chief executives, management, and boards of these enterprises are responsible for this situation. Some SOEs have become perennial loss-makers, draining public funds with bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures while relying on government bailouts as if entitled to them. Many of these entities are at their lowest point in the entire history of the Fourth Republic,” he said.
President Mahama further noted that many SOEs have been plagued by inefficiencies, corruption, and mismanagement, leading to consistent financial losses. He cited the 2023 State Ownership Report by the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), which highlighted systemic inefficiencies and wasteful expenditures within these entities.
He therefore reaffirmed his commitment to reforming under-performing SOEs and ensuring they serve national interests.
He warned that loss-making SOEs will no longer be tolerated and will either be merged, privatised, or closed.
“I will assess you based on your performance. If you do not align with the pace of the reset agenda, you may be asked to step aside. If that adds to the horror movie, so be it,” he added.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
