Former Chairman of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, James Klutse Avedzi, has linked the continued prevalence of financial irregularities in public financial management to the failure to prosecute offenders after the committee hears cases and issues recommendations.
He argued that the absence of prosecution weakens accountability and emboldens misconduct, noting that when individuals are held accountable through legal action, it serves as a deterrent to others entrusted with public funds.
“The difficulty is the non-prosecution of the people if the recommendations is given. The non-prosecution is the one that is causing the problem,” he said on JoyFm’s Super Morning Show on Thursday, April 2.
“If one person is prosecuted and jailed or fined, it will serve as a deterrent for other people not to do same.”
According to him, the cycle has become entrenched, with the Public Accounts Committee holding hearings annually on audit infractions but seeing limited or no follow-up action thereafter.
“They have come to realise that after appearing before the public accounts committee nothing happens so they will prefer committing a crime, they will come to the committee and behave as if they are angels and they dont know much about it because they know that after they leave parliament, nothing happens again. That is what the problem is.”
The former Ketu North Member of Parliament stressed that this pattern undermines efforts to safeguard public resources and erodes confidence in the system, insisting that consistent prosecution is essential to enforcing discipline and promoting transparency in public financial management.
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Source: www.myjoyonline.com