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Government would work to recover every illegally acquired monies from individual and entities that have fleeced the country, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has assured.

Delivering an address on the State of the Nation to Parliament in Accra on Thursday, he stated that government was obligated to treat seriously the recent report of the Auditor-General on the country’s public finance, where a whooping sum of GHc5.4 billion had been overpaid to contractors.

“The Auditor-General’s Report on MDA liabilities as at 31st December, 2016, makes truly alarming reading. I make reference to the fact that a staggering amount of GH¢5.4 billion has been identified as constituting fictitious claims. In the course of this address, Mr Speaker, the House has heard me struggle to identify a source of funding to build our roads,” the President said.

“Every day, we hear reports on our radios and televisions of dilapidated classrooms, and children who sit on floors at school. Just think of the difference that GH¢5.4 billion would make to the nation’s finances. That would certainly be enough to build and furnish hundreds of classrooms, and construct the Eastern Corridor roads. Every citizen is affected by acts of corruption, and we should all work to tackle them.”

Reiterating his resolve to tackle corruption, and to uphold the principles of probity and accountability, President Akufo-Addo noted his call on the public to tender in information about acts of corruption by any of his appointees.

Such persons should be prepared to back every information the forward with evidence, for it to be investigated.

“So far, every single alleged act of corruption levelled against any of my appointees has been investigated by independent bodies, and, in some cases, by Parliament itself, and the findings made public,” the President said.

“It appears, however, that some are determined to stick to their politically-motivated view that there has been corruption. This, surely, is not helpful.

“It is important to note that, in my first year of office, despite having a clear parliamentary majority, two separate bi-partisan probes in Parliament have been established to inquire into allegations of corruption, as against zero in recent years, notwithstanding the persistent calls by the then Minority over several allegations,” he said.