The Centre for Local Governance Advocacy (CLGA) said abuse and misuse of funds by local authorities continued to undermine local level development in Ghana.
It said Ghana’s fiscal decentralisation strategy had partially been slow because of those abuses and the earlier it was resolved the better for local governance in the country.
Dr Eric Oduro Osae, a Board Member of CLGA and Local Government Expert, said this during a launch of the Fifth Edition of “The Decentralization Eye,” a quarterly newsletter to monitor Ghana’s decentralisation process.
He said: “We continue to witness the Public Accounts Committee’s discussions on the Auditor-General’s report year after year and witness the abuses reported again and again.
“The question that is begging for answers is, why haven’t the appropriate agencies taken action to prosecute or sanction officers found culpable in these reports?” he asked.
The 48-page newsletter highlighted extensively the Auditor-General’s report, the District Assemblies Common Fund, health decentralisation, and improving gender involvement and inclusion in the business of local governance, among others.
Dr Osae said there seemed to be some laxity in the country’s criminal justice system where one only had to be cautioned and refund any funds embezzled after they had been uncovered.
That trend, he said, was dangerous for the country’s democracy as it rather motivated officers to embezzle funds by either investing it or using them to undertake huge projects only to refund them with or without interest when they were caught.
“This has been the trend at both national and sub national levels. This trend, if not halted, has the potential of gradually legalising embezzlement of state funds by public officers who treat such funds as short term loans,” he said.
Dr Osae, therefore, congratulated the Minister of Finance for committing to introduce a Public Financial Management Bill for Ghana.
He said the Bill, if passed into law, would amend, review, consolidate and codify all existing financial management laws for improved Public Financial Management.
However, he said, all efforts would go to waste if the Financial Court anticipated under the Part VII of the Financial Administration Act, 2003 ( Act 654) as amended, was not fully operationalised and public officers practically tried for misuse and abuse of funds in that court.
Mr Saaka Sayuti, also a Board Member of the Centre, said the newsletter continued to serve as one of the best resource of obtaining contemporary local government information as it had commenced the process of publishing and covering assembly meetings and showcasing the investment potentials of the local authorities in Ghana for improved local economic development.
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