The Auditor-General’s Department recovered for the state more than ¢67 million from various surcharge certificates issued to individuals and organisations.
In June 2017, the Supreme Court granted all the reliefs sought by pressure group, OccupyGhana, in respect of the Auditor-General’s powers of disallowance and surcharges.
The apex court directed the Auditor-General to issue disallowance and surcharges in respect of all state monies found to have been expended contrary to law.
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The second relief granted by the Court is that the Auditor-General must take steps to recover all amounts lost to the state, and this covers private persons.
The Attorney-General was also ordered to ensure enforcement of the orders including criminal prosecution where necessary.
In a release issued under the hand of the Acting Public Relations Officer of the Audit Service, Benard Conduah, the Service revealed that between June 14, 2017, to November 30, 2018, it “issued 112 Surcharge Certificates to individuals and organisations and recovered a total amount of ¢67,315,066.12 into government chest.”
The press statement released on Thursday, January 3, further urged stakeholders and the general public can access copies of a report it has submitted to the Parliament on the progress made by the Ghana Audit Service on Disallowance and Surcharge from the website of the Ghana Audit Service.
This progress report from the Audit Service can be seen as a success for think tanks in general and OccupyGhana in particular.
OccupyGhana waged a relentless war against the lethargic attitude of Auditors-General whom it accused of not applying the law and protecting the public purse.
Every year, the Auditor-General makes serious findings of many instances of misapplication of colossal amounts by public office holders.
Sometimes the public officers make admissions before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament but none is ever held accountable or punished.
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OccupyGhana has argued strenuously that the Auditor-General has the power to disallow expenditures which are not in conformity with the law and to surcharge those responsible.