ARICS BLAMED FOR NON PROSECUTION OF OFFICIALS, DAILY GRAPHIC, MAY 11, 2011, (CENTRE SPREAD)

Story: Della Russel Ocloo

The Auditor-General, Mr Richard Quartei Quartey, has blamed the Audit Report Implementation Committees (ARICs) of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for the failure to prosecute those found to have misappropriated state funds.
He said lack of co-operation on the part of the ARICs to implement the recommendations of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament after it had made adverse findings against some officials was frustrating the work of the Audit Service.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra, Mr Quartey said the Auditor-General’s Report was made available to the ARICs before it was presented to Parliament and he was, therefore, surprised that dockets on cases of malfeasance were still non-available.
Mr Quartey, who was reacting to a US State Department 2010 Report on human rights which indicted Ghana on corruption, expressed worry that the situation could undermine the government’s efforts at waging a relentless war against corruption.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Mrs Getrude Aikins, in a recent interview, said although the Attorney-General’s Department was willing to prosecute, the non-availability of information from the appropriate investigative bodies had stalled the A-G’s actions.
According to Mr Quartey, majority of the cases of malfeasance were supposed to have been reported by the ARICs which had responsibility to act on the Auditor-General’s Report.
“It is in rare situations that cases of material findings involving large sums of money are immediately reported by the Auditor-General to the police,” he said.
He also expressed dismay at the non-existence of the ARICs at some of the MDAs, saying, “Whereas some MDAs have the committees in place but are malfunctioning, others are yet to establish them."
He said the Audit Service was currently concluding work on the 2010 audit reports on the Consolidated Fund, which would be presented to Parliament in June.
He expressed the fear that efforts being made by the service to clear audit report arrears would be undermined by the inaction of the ARICs.
Mr Quartey called on the committees to ensure that issues arising out of the Auditor-General’s Report were dealt with appropriately in order to enhance the government’s fight against corruption.