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THE CHAIRMAN of Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) has taken on the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament (PAC) for contributing to the Auditor-General�s delay in auditing accounts of public institutions in the country. �Parliament will have to be held partly responsible for the delay in the auditing of public accounts by the Auditor-General,� Sam Okudzeto, the CHRI Chairman has observed. Answering a question at an annual human rights lecture in Accra, Mr. Okudzeto, who is also a former Chairman of Public Accounts Committee of Parliament from 1969-1972, said it was the responsibility of the PAC to ensure that the Auditor-General did not renege on its statutory duties. The lecture, which was the third in the series, was organised by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), in collaboration with CHRI, in commemoration of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on October 17, 2011. Auditing of state institutions has been delayed for years by the Auditor-General, a worrying phenomenon, which Mr. Okudzeto and other anti-corruption crusaders argued, had not ensured transparency and accountability in the management of public finances. Some public officials sometimes fled with the tax payers� money long before their accounts were audited. Although the situation had improved in recent years, there were more arrears to be cleared, as the PAC was still holding public hearings on the reports of the Auditor-General for the years 2005-2007. Mr. Okudzeto did not understand why PAC of parliament, which had the powers of a high court, could not summon the Auditor-General to answer queries on the delay in auditing public funds. The delay in scrutinizing the utilisation of public purse, he observed, had contributed to the endemic problem of corruption in the country. This year�s human rights lecture, which was on the theme; �Advancing Human Rights: Prospects and Challenges� had Nana Oye Lithur, Executive Director of Human Rights Advocacy Centre (HRAC) as one of the key speakers. Speaking on the topic; �Poverty, Inequality and the State of Human Rights in Ghana�, Nana Oye Lithur said poverty endemic poverty was contributing to human rights abuses in the country. According to her, poverty and pervasive inequality had denied many Ghanaians their human rights to good education, healthcare, rule of law and social justice, among others in the country. Nana Oye Lithur called on government to ensure that there was equitable distribution of the nation�s wealth and the equal development of all parts of the country to ensure poverty was eradicated. Giving chilling examples, she indicated how a number of people languished in prison or police custody for years without trial because they were poor and could not pay the bills of lawyers for assistance. One Ballah Abdul, Nana Oye Lithur disclosed, was arrested after a false accusation had been made against him by a tenant. He was also accused of armed robbery and placed in police cells in 2008. According to her, though Ballah had an alibi, his case was not investigated and was placed in police cells until June 2009 because his family could not afford the resources of a lawyer. Ballah�s incarceration, Nana Oye Lithur lamented, had a negative impact on his social life as he was now psychologically traumatized, a Muslim alcoholic and smoker. He has also refused to go back to school because of stigmatization. Another suspect, Wisdom Asare, 16, who was accused of stealing clothes and a DVD, was arrested and placed in police cells for two weeks in 2005. Nana Oye Lithur said although Asare had returned the items and apologised, he remained in custody until 2011 without trial because his docket could not be found, and his parents could not also pay for the services of a lawyer. Asare, according to her, was only granted bail six years after her organisation Human Rights Advocacy Centre applied for his release.