Professor of Political Science at the University of Ghana, Prof. Ransford Gyampo has stated that the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has been rendered useless by Ghana’s dysfunctional state institutions.
He stated that the PAC puts a lot of effort into probing issues of financial relevance to the state. He however asserted that the failure of state institutions to carry through with the recommendations of the PAC has made the job of the committee pointless.
“The Public Accounts Committee has been there since 1992 and we see their problem. Their work is an unnecessary waste of the resources of the nation. To the extent that they can do whatever they want to do but their recommendations will not be carried out to their logical conclusion”.
Professor Ransford Gyampo
Prof. Ransford Gyampo further argued that the underperformance of state institutions is a result of the individuals who are put in charge of these institutions.
He maintained that if leaders of public institutions exhibited some level of devotion to their work, many ambiguities in the 1992 Constitution regarding the various state institutions and practices would not be taken advantage of.
The Professor of Political Science also alleged that governments of the Fourth Republic are quick to set up state institutions and take credit for these accomplishments.
He opined that these governments however fail to ensure that the institutions are capable of achieving the mandate for which they have been set up.
Taking the Office of the Special Persecutor (OSP) into perspective, Prof. Gyampo stated that the OSP does not have to wait for the PAC to recommend issues to it before it investigates such issues.
Prof. Gyampo stated that the country has not had leaders who proactively solve the problems of governance the country faces. He stressed that the problems of governance in Ghana are clear to point out even by a layman.
The Need For A Constitutional Review
Prof. Gyampo expressed his opinion that the 1992 Constitution of Ghana needs to be revised to cater to the present-day requirements of the country. However, he also mentioned that public officeholders can ensure smooth functioning even without these amendments.
He further added that many of the citizens of Ghana are unaware of the various provisions in the constitution which empower them to hold the government accountable.
“One of the reasons why I’m told President Akufo-Addo did not follow through with the proposal for constitutional review was that he believed that with the right caliber of person in charge, even a bad constitution can be worked such that you will not exploit loopholes to satisfy one’s agenda”.
Professor Ransford Gyampo
Prof. Ransford Gyampo’s remarks were in response to the findings of the PAC considering the Agyapa Royalty deal.
The PAC (Public Accounts Committee) has revealed that USD 12 million from the Minerals Income Investment Fund has been spent on the Agyapa Royalty Deal which was halted midway for reasons unknown to the PAC and the general public.
Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng, CEO of the Minerals Investment Fund, disclosed that the President, H.E Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, ordered the termination of the deal.
Meanwhile, Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, the Member of Parliament for Tamale Central and a member of the PAC, stated that the decision to invest in the Agyapa deal was made by the Ministry of Finance.
He accused the government of authorizing the Agyapa deal arbitrarily and claimed that the President had authorized similar deals in the same manner.
“Anybody who has underestimated the thievery, the robbery that the people of this country have been subjected to by President Nana Addo and his gang of appointees then such a person should rethink”
Hon. Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed
To conclude, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has recently discovered several issues related to state institutions during their hearings. These issues primarily involve corruption, embezzlement of public funds, and misappropriation of funds across various sectors. The PAC’s expertise has allowed them to review and update reports provided by the Auditor General.
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