The Majority Leader has told Parliament that the Majority Caucus will spearhead a rigorous pursuit of accountability in Ghana’s public financial management to put a stop to abuse of public funds. 

To that effect, he outlined the unresolve financial malfeasance surrounding the COVID-19 expenditures, Agyapa Royalties deal, $190 million PDS scandal, deals he assured would be investigated to hold accountable those who brazenly plundered public resources without accountability.

“This House will ensure that the era of financial recklessness is met with unwavering consequences,” he assured the House.

Full-scale investigation  

Addressing the House at the commencement of the second meeting of the Ninth Parliamentary on Tuesday, Mr Ayariga also warned that the House would “demand a full-scale parliamentary investigation into the handling of COVID-19 expenditures to ensure transparency in how emergency funds were utilised.

“We will revisit the unresolved Agyapa Royalties deal and require a detailed update on the $190 million PDS scandal—a case of alleged fraud in power distribution that cost Ghana dearly under the previous administration.

“Furthermore, we will launch a comprehensive inquiry into the rampant sole-sourcing practices of the past government, exposing how reckless contracts bled the nation’s coffers while enriching a select few politically connected individuals,” he said.

Impunity 

The Leader of Government Business said the Majority Caucus would also push the House to summon Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) for briefings, particularly on the 36 financial cases worth over $20 billion under review—including land-related fraud amounting to $702.2 million.

In his view, the gravest danger to the country’s democracy was impunity and that if “we fail to hold those responsible for this brazen plunder of public resources accountable, we betray the trust of every Ghanaian who demands justice”

Bank Square

The MP for Bawku Central also said in the course of the last sitting, it emerged that some containers belonging to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) got missing at the Tema Port.

He said further investigations revealed massive cases of reckless procurement at the ECG, with the Minister of Energy promising the House a thorough investigation. 

“We are waiting to be briefed on how far perpetrators have been held accountable. This Parliament must live up to its mandate as the House of accountability,” he said. 

He again told the House that the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Johnson Pandit Kwasi Asiama, appeared before the House’s Committee of the Whole to provide critical clarifications on the controversial construction of the new Central Bank headquarters, known as the Bank Square.

He explained that what began as an $81.8 million project under the previous administration ballooned to an astounding $250 million, a reckless expenditure at a time when Ghana’s dire financial crisis had pushed the nation into an IMF bailout.

“Shockingly, it was revealed that $11.1 million was spent on furniture alone, despite the building remaining incomplete and structurally unsafe for occupation.

“This House will thoroughly investigate this matter during the current sitting to ensure accountability and justice. The hardworking citizens of Ghana who took to the streets in protest against such blatant mismanagement of public funds deserve answers and their voices must not be ignored and their sacrifices must not be in vain,” he said.