A four-member committee has been constituted by Parliament to appoint an independent auditor to audit the accounts of the Office of the Auditor-General of the Republic.
The move is in line with Article 187(15) of the 1992 Constitution which states that “The accounts of the office of the Auditor General shall be audited and reported upon by an auditor appointed by Parliament.”
The committee is to be chaired by James Klutse Avedzi, the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee and National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ketu North Constituency.
Other members of the committee are Dr Festus Awuah Kwofie, New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP, Upper Denkyira East, Dr Stephen Amoah, NPP MP for Nhyiaeso and Sampson Tangombu Chiragia, NDC MP for Navrongo Central.
Moving the motion for the formation of the committee, Majority Leader and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu justified the nomination of the Ketu North lawmaker as chairman of the committee.
“Unlike what pertains in practice, making the majority caucus members chairmen of any such committee, (it is agreed that) it should be chaired by the Dr James Klutse Avedzi, a long-standing member of this House and the only member in leadership,” the majority leader announced.
In his view, the committee has the capacity to audit the Office of the Auditor General effectively.
Seconding the motion, minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu said the decision was arrived at after a careful consideration and consultation with leadership.
Describing the move as “the police policing the police,” the Tamale South MP backed his deputy as chairman of the four-member committee.
Earlier, announcing the motion before vacating the seat for his First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, said the audit was needed.
“We have not done that for some time now, therefore we have some arrears and we think it is an urgent matter which we have to undertake to appoint an auditor to audit the accounts of the Office of the Auditor General,” the Speaker stated.
The Auditor General, Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu, in his 2021 report on public boards, corporations and other statutory institutions reported that the State lost a total amount of GH¢12.85 billion in irregularities.
The irregularities, according to the report include outstanding debtors, cash irregularities, payroll irregularities, tax irregularities, procurement irregularities, stores irregularities and contract irregularities.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
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