CSOs lead demo to demand better protection of the public purse

The Coalition for Democratic Accountability and Inclusive Governance has led protestors in demanding better protection of the public purse.

The group, which is made up of notable members of civil society, media and the legal fraternity, is thus mounting pressure on the Auditor General to apply his surcharge powers to retrieve over GH¢17 billion lost to financial irregularities in the 2021 financial year.

The group members gathered at the Efua Sutherland Children’s Park in Accra to begin the protest to demand the enforcement of the powers.

The groups, also known as the WebeCitizens movement, say if the Auditor General makes use of the surcharge powers conferred on him by law, the country will end its frequent requests for support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

A member of civil society, Director of Advocacy and Policy for CDD-Ghana, Dr. Kojo Asante, told Citi News that: “If we are going to stop ourselves from going to the IMF every four years or every eight years, we need to take accountability seriously”.

“We want every citizen to take this issue of accountability very seriously. We are not going to go anywhere as a country if we don’t ensure that every Cedi that we take from our toil… is used for our development.”

In response, the audit service has assured Ghanaians that the service is willing to cooperate with civil society to ensure the protection of the public purse.

Deputy Auditor General in charge of Performance and special audits, Lawrence Ayagiba, received the petition from WeBeCitizens protestors.

“We as Ghana Audit Service acknowledged and agree with all that you are doing. We have a common goal that we need to fight to make sure that every cedi is accounted for.”

Source: Citi Newsroom