Copyright ghanamma
Former Auditor-General and member of the Operation Recover All Loots (ORAL) team, Daniel Yao Domelevo, has called for a strengthening of Ghana’s asset declaration and lifestyle audit systems to curb corruption and promote accountability in public service. His remarks come in response to revelations by the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, that the scale of financial losses in the ongoing National Service Authority (NSA) scandal is far greater than initially reported. Speaking on with Selorm Adonoo on Saturday, October 25, Mr. Domelevo lamented the weak internal control systems within public institutions, which he said embolden officials to embezzle funds without consequence. “Very few people are held accountable for embezzlement of funds, so people feel emboldened. Internal controls are so weak. I think if we strengthen internal auditors who are there 24/7 checking abuses and irregularities, I think it will help us very well,” he said. He further emphasised the importance of conducting lifestyle audits to expose individuals whose wealth cannot be justified by their known sources of income. “To be honest with you, lifestyle audit is very important; some of us are calling for the strengthening of the assets liability declaration regime or the law which regulates it. If we do that, people will start hiding their assets and properties. Even without doing that, people are already hiding their assets. You hear of children who have so much property and have not worked. Or people who are working, but their assets and what they earn don’t match. So we need a lifestyle audit so that you can establish whether you obtain it rightly or not.” He stressed that without robust monitoring and enforcement mechanisms, corruption will continue to thrive unchecked in Ghana’s public institutions.
