Pressure group Occupy Ghana has warned that it will go ahead to\u00a0sue the Audit Service in 30 days if it fails to take active measures to prosecute corrupt officials and recover all unaccounted for monies recorded in its report.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe respectfully remind you that the 30-day period stated in our initial letter still holds. If we do not hear from you, as you are required by law to do, within that period, we will commence legal action against you without further recourse,\u201d a press release issued by the group said.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”Q3pITk0RSWlICVqsMqIexWAqNgnIYJ2e”]Occupy Ghana issued a 30 day ultimatum to the Audit Service<\/strong> <\/span><\/a>and threatened to drag the Auditor General to court if it fails to recover state funds which were illegally paid to various public officials.<\/span><\/p>\n The Audit Service in response said it will not entertain pressure from any individual or organisation in the discharge of its duties.<\/p>\n It said the constitution permits Service to function without control from any person or authority.<\/p>\n Occupy Ghana however stated that the Audit Service \u201conly sought to draw attention to the independence that is granted and guaranteed to its office by Article 187(7) of the Constitution\u201d and \u00a0\u201cfailed to consider the contents of that provision together with Article 295(8) of the same Constitution, which emphatically states that that independence does not preclude the power of the court from inquiring into whether or not it has performed its functions according to the Constitution and\/or the law.\u201d<\/p>\n The group justified its decision to sue the Auditor General, saying, that\u00a0the Constitution, under Article 35(8) places a mandatory obligation on the nation to \u201ctake steps to eradicate corrupt practices\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n “We believe that your Disallowance and Surcharge functions are key to ensuring the achievement of this objective. Thus, where it appears that your office has never exercised those specific enforcement-triggering functions, especially when you have found countless instances of corruption in the course of your audits, legitimate questions must be asked of you; and if you refuse to answer those questions, we are entitled to commence proceedings against you, to compel you to answer those questions to the good people of this nation,”it added.<\/p>\n Occupy Ghana has started a campaign against corruption, targeting the public and private sectors.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n By: Marian Efe Ansah\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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