The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament has mounted a strong defense of its commitment to fight corruption in the wake of criticism that it has made a fetish of public hearings without following through to ensure prosecution of corrupt officials.

The pressure group Committee for Joint Action, which made the charge at a media briefing on Tuesday, said the parliamentary committee has failed to follow through to ensure that individuals who misapply or embezzle state funds are either prosecuted or slapped with punitive sanctions.

The Public Accounts Committee is presently holding another round of public hearings on the Auditor General’s report and already several cases of abuse of public funds have been raised.

The CJA wonders whether the committee is prepared to go beyond the public hearing to ensure the prosecution of individuals found to have misapplied state funds.

But in a strong defense of its procedures, the parliamentary committee’s chairman Albert Kan Dapaah said the CJA is getting it all wrong.

According to him, PAC does not have the power to prosecute, adding, “there is a process. It is not the duty of the Public Accounts Committee to punish people who have misbehaved…and it is Parliament as a whole that will ensure that the necessary punishment is [given].”

Asked whether Parliament executes the punitive function effectively, Mr Dapaah responded in the affirmative, the House has monitoring mechanisms to ensure that persons cited in corrupt practices are dealt with.

According to him such an exercise may have been eclipsed by other issues.

A member of the committee and MP for Bosomtwi, Simon Osei Mensah, however, indicated that the Attorney General’s Department has not been effective in implementing recommendations by the Public Accounts Committee.

He noted that although the department “has done some work” he could not vouch for its effective handling of cases the committee refers to it.
But whilst arguing that the blame should be laid at the doorstep of the Attorney General’s Department, Mr Mensah adds that Attorney General has also not been effective in ensuring speedy prosecution of corrupt officials identified by the Public Accounts Committee.

Source: myjoyonline