Representatives of Civil Society Groups (CSOs) have hit the streets of Accra as they pile pressure on the Auditor-General, Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu, to exercise his powers of surcharge and disallowance.
The CSOs accused him of blatantly refusing to use his surcharge powers since 2019, even after appeals and petitions by sections of the society for him to do so.
Last week, the Audit Service’s latest report also disclosed that the country saw financial irregularities to the tune of ¢17 billion.
This was published in the Auditor-General’s Report for 2021.
The revelation was shocking to many with Ghanaians questioning why the Auditor-General did not implement the initiative to surcharge institutions responsible for the lost revenue.
It is against this backdrop that the anti-graft campaigners took to the streets.
The Coalition for Democratic Accountability and Inclusive Governance, otherwise known as Citizen Coalition, declared yesterday as ‘Red Monday’.
Other groups present were the Ghana Centre for Democratic Governance (CDD-Ghana), Citizens Movement Against Corruption, Africa Education Watch, OccupyGhana, IMANI Africa, Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) and many more.
In the morning, the ‘We Be Citizens’ protest hit a brief snag as protesters were being prevented from converging inside the Efua Sutherland Park.
Again, the rains also threatened to disrupt the intended demonstration.