The Auditor-General, (A-G) Mr. Daniel Yaw Domelevo, has called for the restructuring of state institutions to ensure efficient and effective service delivery as well as shun wasteful expenditure. According to the A-G, many of Ghana’s public service providers are a duplicate of each other, a situation he believes affects their mode of operations to deliver quality service which does not auger well for development.
He said: “Public financial management in Ghana storms at the top and drizzles at the bottom, we have created structures which duplicate themselves to the extent that by the time we feed these structures, monies left for development at the district level is finished”.
“When they mention the budget, Ghana Education Service budget is so and so billion but then go to the classroom and see how much reaches there, zero. The issue is that we have too many services”.
The Auditor-General was contributing to a panel discussion at the 71st New Year School and Conference held at the University of Ghana, Legon in Accra. The panel discussion was on the topic: “Ghana Beyond Aid: Rejuvenating the local economy through accountable governance”,
The vision of the ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ is “A Prosperous And Self-Confident Ghana That Is In Charge Of Her Economic Destiny; A Transformed Ghana That Is Prosperous Enough To Be Beyond Needing Aid, And That Engages Competitively With The Rest Of The World Through Trade And Investment”.
The overarching goal of ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ is to build a Wealthy, Inclusive, Sustainable, Empowered and Resilient Ghana (a WISER GHANA).
Mr. Domelevo was of the opinion that the public service, as structured currently, could not help achieve ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’. He compared the public sector as a “contaminated fuel” that could not power the private sector which is the “engine of growth. It is my considered opinion that unless we reorient the public service to become a service delivery institution, instead of an institution which serves the bosses rather than the people of Ghana, we are not going to achieve ‘Ghana Beyond Aid”.
Speaking on corruption, the A-G said corruption was one of the biggest obstacles to the attainment of ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’.
Mr. Domelevo identified some of the corrupt practices as shoddy works by road contractors, the falsification of people’s dates of birth at work places and negative attitude towards work. He called for concerted efforts from all and sundry to fight corruption which mars the attainment of ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’. Mr. Domelevo urged Ghanaians to demand greater transparency and accountability from duty-bearers as parts of efforts to promote economic development.
He noted that Ghana should focus on home grown solutions and give Ghanaian professionals and manufacturers a chance to prove themselves to help the country become self-reliant.
The week-long school and conference organised by the Institute of Continuing and Distance Education of the University of Ghana, Legon was on the theme “Attaining Ghana Beyond Aid: Prospects and Challenges”.
