President John Dramani Mahama has revealed that over 300 individuals are being prosecuted in the country for various corrupt acts they indulged in.
He said, “As of July 2013, over 300 individuals were on remand for corruption and related offences.”
President Mahama made the statement at the High Level Conference on the National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP) held in Accra on Monday.
[contextly_sidebar id=”XxuM8Uhy6kwWWl34XIBxe2TNur16Idg5″]Ghana has in recent times recorded a number of high profile corruption cases including huge sums of monies wasted on the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) and the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Authority (GYEEDA) which have not been accounted for.
According to President Mahama “In respect to allegations of corruption at the GYEEDA, there are on-going prosecutions of public officials involved, including former high-ranking officials. Service providers who breached the terms of their contracts are being held to refund the monies to Government.”
“But does this mean that GYEEDA, and all the positive work that it was intended to do in our communities, must now be abandoned?” he questioned adding that “in a democracy, the wheels of justice turn rather slowly.”
MDS must mplement AG’s report or face my wrath
President Mahama further directed all Ministries Department and Agencies (MDAs) in the country to implement the Auditor General’s report or face sanctions.
Pressure group, Occupy Ghana,had earlier threatened to drag the Auditor General to court if it does not retrieve monies that were illegally paid to some individuals.
“I am writing to all Ministers and giving them deadlines for implementation of Auditor General’s report as it pertains to their various MDAs,” Mahama stated.
He said “Ministers who are supposed to be the Chairperson of their various ARICS would be required to either surcharge persons for state resources misapplied or in cases where it is recommended hand over to the Attorney General any persons found culpable of misappropriating government finances.”
He insisted that “Failure to implement the AG’s report by the deadline will attract severe sanctions on the Minister concerned.”
Some revelations by the the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on the Auditor Generals report has also shown that some Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) have misused public funds.
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By: Godwin Allotey Akweiteh/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin