An Economist, Dr.Samuel Worlanyo Mensah, has pointed out that the Akufo Addo-led government has done little in the fight against corruption in the country, which has resulted in the failure of most of its social intervention programmes.
He noted that the current government has the most captivating social intervention programs in the fourth republic, including the planting of food and jobs in one district and one factory, among other things that could have saved the country from its current woes if well managed.
He revealed this when he was speaking on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East show with Mark Smith ahead of the Review of the 2023 budget.
The Economist reflected that “most of the measures taken by the government to generate revenue were apt; however, Government appointed officials were not committed to the vision of the president, and he himself, who was tagged as a no-nonsense man, showed little concern where there were rising issues of corruption.”
He emphasised that there was a need for the government to not develop the interest in just generating funds but have recourse to laid down financial and accountability regulations.
“When you take the E-levy, for instance, I wrote to the presidency asking clear questions on what exactly we would be using the funds for, and that is what accountability measures are because when you are building schools or hospitals, then we can all monitor to see that the funds are being used are well utilised, but when the government puts money into the consolidated fund, it can be used at any time, so the government lacks discipline in managing financial resources, which is a big challenge.”
He bemoaned that the government has not done much to support agencies fighting corruption, which should have been paramount.
“The government really needs to put its house in order because I believe we have not done much in supporting anti-corruption institutions, which we should have done first and foremost because looking at EOCO, the Attorney General’s Department, the Office of the Special Prosecutor, among other national anti-corruption institutions, these should have been developed, but these institutions are rather experiencing severe weak leadership, and I believe the presidency should have done better because there is little commitment in the fight against corruption.”
This, the Economist bemoaned, has created room for figures of contract to be overblown, a clear neglect of accountable financial procedure, and constant resorting to sole sourcing, which has created an emergency in the economy.
To address this, he said there was a need for the government to intensify the fight against corruption by empowering anti-corruption institutions so as to stabilise the economy of the country.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Gilbert Azeem Tiroog|Ghana
Good points raised from the Bishop.