Protection of public purse a must – Mubarak

Ras Mubarak, Member of Parliament for Kumbungu, has indicated that the state must do all it can within its power to fight against corruption.

He expressed the belief that it is only when the state fights against corruption that the public purse will be protected.

His comments follow a Supreme Court ruling empowering the Auditor General to retrieve all monies stolen by public office holders.

On June 14, the apex court ordered the Auditor General to, as a matter of urgency, begin the process of surcharging any person found to have misappropriated public funds in their reports.

The court also ordered that where applicable, criminal action should be instituted against accused persons by the Attorney General.

The Supreme Court reached this decision after pressure group OccupyGhana instituted an action against the Auditor General seeking an order of the court to compel him to not only report on financial misappropriations by public officials but to take steps to retrieve all state finances that may have gone into wrong hands.

Many a time, state officials are cited for misappropriation of funds in the Auditor General’s report, but such persons walk free despite causing financial loss to the state.

The new directive is intended to serve as a deterrent to officials who loot state funds through their action and inaction.

Mr Mubarak, commenting on this development on his Facebook page, said: “Nothing is worst for a democracy than corruption.

“Public money has no party. Let's do everything within our means to protect the public purse.”