Former President John Dramani Mahama has waded into the impasse between Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, and Auditor General, Johnson Akuamoah-Asiedu over the publication of an audit report into government’s use of COVID-19 funds.
In a tweet on Wednesday, Mahama said the AGs letter was intended to silence the Auditor General, adding that government is creating “a conducive atmosphere for corruption to thrive.”
According to the former president, President Nana Akufo Addo together with his administration are not only indifferent when it comes to the fight against corruption, “they are collaborators” in the many corrupt acts taking place in government.
Godfred Dame had described as unconstitutional the publication of the Auditor General’s report before Parliament completes its consideration of the report. In his letter to the Auditor General, Mr. Dame said Article 187(5) of the Constitution mandates the Auditor General to submit his report to Parliament and in that report, draw attention to any irregularities in the accounts audited.
“I observe that the report of the special audit on the Government’s COVID-19 transactions has been published on the website of the Audit Service. In light of the constitutional provisions pertaining to the duty of the Auditor-General after the preparation of audit reports, I consider a publication of the COVID-19 audit report or indeed any audit report particularly when the same has not been either considered by Parliament or referred to a committee of Parliament, premature”, the Attorney General argued.
The Auditor General in its report on government’s COVID-19 expenditure for the period March 2020 to June 2022 revealed that a total of GH¢11,750,683,059.11 was expended by the government during COVID-19.
The special audit report was prepared under Section 16 of the Audit Service Act, 2000 (Act 584) for submission to Parliament. It detailed the various expenditure made by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies.
