The state might have lost close to GHc50 billion from 2008 to 2014 through misappropriation of funds at various state agencies, Financial Analyst, Sydney Casley Hayford has estimated.<\/p>\n
Mr. Casley Hayford made the statement while commenting on the Supreme Court\u2019s judgement on Pressure Group, Occupy Ghana\u2019s suit filed against the Auditor General.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”CEIL1OhvDGigsNHJdujqDOPKrTpcWvv4″]Mr. Casley Hayford, who is also a convener for Occupy Ghana , indicated that a \u201cmid time calculation starting from 2008 to 2014 estimated that about 45 to 50 billion cedis had been taken by individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court on Wednesday, ordered the Auditor General to, with immediate effect, begin surcharging persons found to have misappropriated monies belonging to the state.<\/p>\n
The court’s order followed a suit filed by Occupy Ghana in June 2016, seeking an order directing the Auditor-General to issue disallowances and surcharges to and in respect of all persons and entities found in relevant, successive reports to have engaged in misappropriation of state funds.<\/p>\n
Occupy Ghana had explained that it sued the Auditor General for refusing to surcharge persons who are said to have misappropriated state funds to the tune of over GHc40 billion.<\/p>\n
Speaking on Citi FM\u2019s News Analysis Programme, The Big Issue, Mr. Casley Hayford indicated that \u201ceverybody believed to have committed an infraction sizeable enough\u201d will be prosecuted.since the case is \u201csuch an important part in the development of anti-corruption .\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe significant point is that so many people have benefited from the laxity in the system and taken what is not theirs at the expense of national development and it is important that we haul these people before courts and really test the system,” Casley Hayford added.<\/p>\n
He however admitted that there will be challenges in prosecuting corrupt officials since \u201cthe Auditor General does not have the human resources and the logistical resources to be able to get things done.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Attorney General who is the main prosecutor now has to find the persons and the bodies to assist in getting these things through the court rapidly and the judicial system itself is going to be challenged to do that effectively.\u201d<\/p>\n
A number of corruption scandals which involved public officials and private companies benefiting from state monies for less or no work done have\u00a0been recorded in the country in the last few years .<\/p>\n
Some of these scandals include the monies lost to Subah Info Solutions deal, the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Agency (GYEEDA,\u00a0\u00a0the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) and the GHc3.6 million\u00a0bus branding saga.<\/p>\n
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By: Marian Ansah\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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