Former Interior Minister under the erstwhile Kufour administration says Parliament has not been thoroughly effective in carrying out its oversight responsibilities.
According to Albert Kan-Dapaah, parliament is unable to check the president because the majority or parliamentarians belong to his party.
Speaking at a symposium organized by Forum for Media Accountability and Democratic Governance in Accra, Wednesday under the theme, ‘Redefining our Ethos as a society’, the former minister said, “Parliament has not been very effective in its oversight duties.
“You would wonder to what extent they in parliament have this independence to hold the president to account. How can they, when the majority of the people there belong to the president’s party?”
“How can they, when those on the government side have been assured by the Constitution that the majority of the ministers will be picked from among their lot,” Mr Kan-Dapaah queried.
He noted that parliament still continues to be influenced by elements in government and until the House focuses on its main responsibility – which is not legislative only – the fight against corruption in the country will have no meaningful results.
He said the primary duty of government is to provide public goods and services to citizens with public funds provided by citizens and while doing this, it must be checked.
“In the absence of checks, government led by the president will go out of line and that is why “our constitution and public financial management system in this country, recognizes the urgent need for extra vigilance in protecting our public funds.”
“But if those who are supposed to check the president are appointed by him, then they will put more effort on pleasing him rather than delivering on their mandate,” he noted.
Other accountability institutions like the Auditor General’s Department and the Judiciary, Mr Kan-Dapaah noted also lack independence in this regard.
Mr. Kan-Dapaah believes “the fear of applying sanctions against those who are found complicit in various forms of impropriety in the public sector is dragging back the nation’s fight against corruption.”
He said government needs to decouple itself entirely from these institutions to afford them the impetus to independently hold public officers to account.
“In order to hold somebody accountable, what you need is not the best academic degree in auditing in law or in any discipline. What you really need is independence, clearly it doesn’t make sense for you to ask my wife to come and audit me.
“But for some strange reasons, the auditor general who is supposed to monitor the president is appointed by the president,” he indicated.
Clearly the ability of this person to hold the president and government to account is questionable, he said.
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