Parliament Must Take Action to Safeguard Public Funds

Managing public Money in Ghana- Parliament Must Take Action to Safeguard Public Funds

As a citizen I have become very concerned about recent Ghana government spending decisions and other financial scandals making unjustifiable demands on public monies. So many very poor people and children in our country people being short changed because government officials are making very poor spending decisions and not really concerned about the negative impacts it’s having on people’s lives, especially in the wake of the illegal public monies paid to private businessman, Alfred Agbesi Woyome. Some of the negative business practices , include issues relating to bad procurement contracts, unsustainable borrowing arrangements from private financial institutions and individuals which are clearly negatively impacting the economic sustainability of Ghana and undermining its economic survival as a developing nation state.

This very serious situation has arisen because it looks like Parliament, which has the responsibility for safeguarding and managing public finances and expenditure under our constitutional dispensation is asleep at the wheel and allowing operatives in Ghana Governments, past and present, who have really not understood the concept of “public money” and what it means, to have a field day dissipating public money recklessly and most times for personal gain without consequences.

The legal basis for deploying public resources, or spending public monies judiciously in the interests of the people, is enshrined in our constitution, but it seems after 22 years of our democracy , those at the helm of our organs of state , the government and parliament appear to have abandoned the safeguarding principles with impunity and rather handling public resources as if it were their own personal resources to share out “willy nily” as they wished, without thinking of the consequences or its impact on the vast majority poor in our country.

In this stern age it’s diabolical and incredibly unethical!

With all the public financial scandals coming to a head I think it’s important to once again remind parliament and our leaders that public money which we derive from taxes, state resources, aid , budgetary support etc. from our development partners and multilateral institutions does not belong to them for their personal use , or to distribute to their family members, and neither does it belong to their party members and friends?

Public money belongs to all of us therefore the government and our Parliament should be doing much more representing the interest of the public and ensuring that public monies are properly used for the benefit of all of us, rather than for the benefit, or securing the creature comforts, of only a tiny clique of leaders in power and their families, friends and party affiliates alone. This prevailing attitude amongst Ghana’s ruling elite towards public funds and the poor management of public money in Ghana is wrong, unjust, an aberration and unfair to all citizens.

The woyome case and the massive leakage of public funds into private pockets with the help and connivance of people responsible for safeguarding public funds, the rampant unchecked corruption permeating all areas of our state governance systems, the unresolved issues surroundering the public accounts committee malfeasance reports, which have still not been acted upon, the crooked and expensive procurement contracts and the on going unsustainable and uneconomic borrowing by government departments is enough evidence that Ghana’s internal governance systems and financial management systems have irretrievably broken down and need urgent fixing.

Because state resources belong to all of us the equitable principles for managing public monies should always be guided by the principles of accountability , openness, fairness, accuracy, reliability , and impartiality as well as value for money. Currently this is not happening and its hurting the development and life chances of every one including our children.

In this stern age when Ghana government and its various agencies and departments are borrowing mindlessly and extortionately , there is even no guidance from Ministers on how to tackle fraud and corruption, especially when in this globalised world setting, $100million dollars can be easily electronically transferred to any where in the world within seconds, with the press of a button? There is no guidance on how to manage assets and deter waste or how to properly vet contractors, foreign and local and this is worrying.

Risk management is non- existent in most Ghana Government departments. The Government does not even care about poor performance and reputational risks which eventually undermines credibility and ultimately credit worthiness. How do you successfully operate in a globalised world setting, and engage with reputable international companies, when by their actions and inactions our ministers and government operatives always ensure that the Ghana nation goes into international financial and economic relations, especially with foreign companies, with both our nations hands tied behind their backs.

All the negative impacts of this inefficient monster of poor institutional governance, fraudulent practices at the heart of government , and the paying of lip service, we have created, through lack of holding people to account or proper organisation, or management or wishful thinking, is seriously undermining the advancement and development of the nation state.

The fixing of this problem lies at the door of Ghana’s Parliament which has the ultimate responsibility. For far too long it has failed to address these important issues in its area of responsibility, or live up to public expectations to hold the executive to account.

Parliament has a leadership responsibility in managing public expenditure and safeguarding public monies . It is a responsibility which has clearly been given to it by the constitution of the land. Therefore in the light of all the financial malfeasance at the heart of government , the outright theft and corruption scandals, one would have thought If the operatives in government do not understand the concept of “public money and how it’s supposed to be managed, then parliament should call the President and his Ministers to order on behalf of the angry masses who suffer daily without development water or electricity. Parliament should be calling the ministers in and reminding them of their responsibilities. They must also be reminding them of the administrative standards expected of their various ministries and departments.

The legislature should stop being partisan and start working for their pay checks, and stop playing the role of a fifth column that unashamedly also contributes to undermining the viability of the nation state to the detriment of all of us including our children and grandchildren.

It’s not up to overseas donor partners and foreign governments to do this job for Ghana’s parliamentarians, whilst they sit in dignified idleness, extracting resources for only their personal benefits and leaving all of us in the lurch.

Ghana’s Parliament must step to the plate, demand improvements in internal governance and financial and accounting systems of public institutions supported with public money.

After all have they not got the mandate to protect our meagre resources which are being recklessly dissipated by government leaders who think they do not owe a responsibility to anyone once they get elected into office? Failure to deliver improvement should lead to sanctions and further funding for their various entities should not be approved until they take action to improve internal governance structures and recover all the stolen and fraudulently expended monies previously allocat

Without any meaningful actions to address these critical governance and developmental issues our development trajectory will continue to be in trouble. Allowing our governments and their operatives, only to just continue to borrow unsustainably and uneconomically despite our circumstances, as the only governmental action in town they know , digging more new holes to fill increasing old ones is not a terribly intelligent way to develop a nation. It smacks of financial and economic illiteracy.

Parliament should also stop mainstreaming crass incompetence and start taking meaningful action to deal with these issues and help reorganize and renew the poor public public administration system in Ghana.

S Nyako

Concerned Ghanaian